What Has Been Lost May yet Be Found
by pingo1387
Summary: During a fierce storm, Usopp falls overboard. One month later, his crewmates find him - in an unexpected place and state. Will they succeed in getting back the sniper they know and love? 7
1. A Fierce Storm! Usopp is Lost!

**Takes place between Fishman Island and Punk Hazard**

* * *

The wind was blowing harder than ever. Nami had warned that there were storms ahead, her having read up on the New World before coming, but not even she had expected gales of this massive strength. It seemed like just a few minutes ago that the whole crew was partying on sunny Fishman Island, having fun, living it up. And now most of the crew was clinging onto the ship for dear life as the winds blew everything around and threatened to capsize Thousand Sunny Go.

"FRANKY!" shouted Nami, trying to make her voice heard over the storm while she and Sanji protected the tangerine trees from being ripped off the deck by the wind. "ARE YOU SURE THAT THE SUNNY CAN WITHSTAND THIS STORM?"

"YOW! OF COURSE HE CAN, NAMI!" he shouted back, using a voice amplifier. "THE SUNNY'S THE BEST SHIP EVER, CREATED BY SUUUPER ARMORED ME!"

Luffy laughed as he held onto the mast, his arms wrapped around it several times. "WOO-HOO! THIS IS REALLY FUN!"

Usopp and Chopper held onto his legs while Zoro, Robin, and Brook adjusted the sails and riggings, having to adjust them anew as the winds changed.

At that moment, a large blast of seawater hit Usopp and Chopper. Both let go in shock, flying to the edge of the ship. Although he could barely see, Luffy stretched out his arms for them, trading them off for the legs to wrap around the mast. Chopper grabbed onto one arm and Luffy pulled him in. He reached out for Usopp, who had grabbed onto the railing of the Sunny. Usopp reached out a hand and grabbed Luffy's own rubber limb. Relief passed across both of their faces – for a moment. Just as Usopp was about to pull himself up, his hand slipped out of Luffy's, sending him tumbling overboard.

"USOOOPP!"

* * *

One hour later, the storm finally calmed down. Everyone was lying on the deck, exhausted from keeping the ship under control and themselves from falling off.

Sanji pushed himself up, taking a cigarette packet out of his jacket pocket only to find that they were soaked. He shoved it back, disgusted. "Okay, roll call. Nami-_swan_?"

"Here, Sanji-_kun_," said Nami, squeezing the water out of her long orange hair.

"Robin-_chwan_?"

"Present."

"Well, that's all." Sanji started to turn away.

"Wait!"

He turned back to see Luffy looking up desperately. "Has anyone seen Usopp? I think he fell overboard!"

There was a pause before everyone set to work looking for Usopp.

"Usopp-_san_!"

"_Nagahana-kun_!"

"Oi, Usopp!"

"Shitty long-nose!"

"Captain Usopp!"

No response. After combing every inch of the ships, including some secret compartments that no one knew about until then, he was proclaimed missing.

Luffy sat down. "He fell overboard. I saw it. I tried to grab him, but my hand slipped…" he put his head in his hands, then stood up and looked over the edge of the ship. "Usopp!" he yelled. "Usopp, if you're there, please answer! USOPP!"

Zoro came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Luffy… there's no sign of him. I just checked through the crow's nest and I didn't even see anything floating, much less a person."

Luffy's eyes filled with tears. "No! We're going to find Usopp, no matter how long it takes! He's our _nakama_! We can't just let it go!"

"Did I _say_ we would let it go? Of course we'll keep looking for him!"

"Thanks, Zoro…" Luffy turned to his crew. "Alright, everyone! Our first piracy is to look for Usopp!"

They cheered, just before Chopper started crying. Robin went to comfort him while Sanji told Luffy that the word should be 'priority'.

"Oh, okay."

"Usopp…" Chopper sobbed as Robin hugged him gently.


	2. Usopp a Marine? A Startling Revelation!

_One month later_

Usopp hadn't been found yet. The only things that the Strawhats had managed to salvage were his shoulder bag and the tattered remains of his clothes. They put these things in the Usopp Factory, deciding to leave them alone. Though they had tried to keep their spirits up, most of the crew had fallen into slight depression within the last two weeks. Luffy and Chopper hadn't been as cheerful; Sanji's cooking wasn't as good; Zoro didn't seem to be napping as much, instead pacing around the ship irritably; Nami and Robin had been working tirelessly to remake Usopp's clothes for when he returned; Franky hadn't been as energetic or 'Super'; and the only music that Brook managed to play was melancholy and rather mournful.

It was on one of these days – in which Zoro was pacing the ship, Luffy and Chopper were lying around, the girls were in a room making clothes, Sanji was attempting to make lunch, Franky was drinking cola, and Brook was playing a minor key version of Binks' Sake – that the Marine ship approached.

"Oi, Luffy," called Zoro. "Marines."

"Let them go, Zoro," said Luffy. "Maybe they won't see us. But if they attack, we'll kick their asses." He wasn't doing anything else at the time, so he got up and watched the Marine ship. Judging by the mark on the flag, it appeared to be from a sub-branch of G-5. It didn't take long for the cannons to start firing.

One of the cannonballs came too close for the ship for comfort. Luffy jumped back. "Whoa! That was close! Hey, everyone! Get out here, the Marines are attacking!"

Nami and Robin came outside, looking tired but alert; Brook set down his old violin and picked up his Shikomizue; Zoro readied his swords; Franky finished off his cola; Sanji came out of the kitchen; and Chopper stood up and changed into Kung Fu Point.

The Marine ship was getting closer. Another cannonball fired out and this time would have hit the ship if not for Zoro's skills. He sliced the cannonball in half and it fell harmlessly to the deck.

"Geez, is it just me, or are the Marines getting better at firing?"

Luffy shrugged and shot his arms out, launching himself onto the ship for a full battle. The fight would be good for him, getting out some pent-up energy and sadness for Usopp. He knocked out several Marines in one swoop of his leg.

"Oi!"

Turning around, he saw Zoro and Sanji waving. Reaching for them, he grabbed onto them and pulled them onto the ship with surprisingly little damage to any of those three.

The Marines were getting pummeled. Their ship had reached the Sunny and many of them were boarding it, only to be knocked back by Chopper, Robin, Nami, Brook, and Franky. All were fighting skillfully, a determined gleam in their eye – all except for Brook, who didn't have any eyes.

Meanwhile, Luffy had snuck below deck to try and steal a lot of meat from the Marines (now that most of them were overboard or knocked out). He looked around, calling "Meat! Meat, where are you?"

He eventually came upon the cannon room. Most of the Marines had run above deck to help with the fight, and so had presumably met the same fate as the rest. But one person remained – a young man with the typical Marine outfit, hat, etc. Judging by the cannon he was next to, he'd been the one who would have hit the Sunny had Zoro not been there. He also had curly black hair, and – when he turned around – Luffy saw that he had an unusually long nose. His face lit up.

"Usopp!" he cried happily. "You're alive! I knew it! What're you doing here? Come on; let's go back to the Sunny! Everyone misses you!"

Usopp backed up and shrieked. "H-How do you know my name? You're one of those filthy pirates, aren't you!?" His legs started shaking. "G-Go away! I-I have 8,000 men under my command, did you know!? I-If you don't want them to attack, you better get out of here real quick!"

Luffy laughed. "Aw, come on, Usopp! Quit joking around!" Running up to his friend, Luffy grabbed him under his arm and carried him to the upper deck, where Zoro and Sanji were wiping out the last few soldiers. They looked up upon his arrival.

"Guys! Guys! I found Usopp!"

"Hey, nice work!"

"What was he doing under deck?"

"I dunno! Let's go back to the Sunny!" Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji leapt from the Marine ship to the Thousand Sunny. The remaining crewmembers were depositing the last few Marines into the ocean or tossing them back on their ship. When they saw the three approaching, they nodded. Nami and Franky moved the ship away from the now sinking Marine ship.

"Hey, Luffy…" Nami called. "What do you have under your arm?"

Luffy grinned and placed his burden on the deck. "It's Usopp! I found him on the Marine ship!"

The crew gave a collective gasp and hurried over to their formerly missing friend. Usopp was lying on the deck and appeared to have fainted from terror. Chopper cheered. "Usopp! You're back!"

At the sound of his name, Usopp woke up. He stared at everyone hovering above him and yelled out. He stood up suddenly and shouted "P-Pirates! You guys are the Strawhat pirates! D-Did you kidnap me? You kidnapped me, didn't you!? I have 10,000 men under my command that I can get to attack you at any time! B-Back off!"

The crew, surprised, moved back a step. Chopper frowned. "Hm… he might be sick! I'm going to examine him! Okay, Usopp, hold still!" he transformed into Heavy Point and carried Usopp to the infirmary, the latter screaming about a monster.

* * *

About ten minutes later, Chopper came running out of the examination room. He ran straight to Robin and started crying on her. She patted him and said "Tony-_kun_, what's wrong? Is everything alright?"

"Chopper, what happened? Is Usopp sick?"

Chopper looked up, his eyes filling with tears. "H… he's not sick. Not exactly…"

"Well, what's wrong already?" said Zoro impatiently.

"Usopp lost his memory!" blurted out Chopper. "He has amnesia!"

Silence followed this proclamation – for about two seconds. Then Luffy yelled "What!? So he doesn't know who we are!?"

"Oh, no… that's so sad!" Franky covered his face with his huge hands. "Shut up! I'm not crying!"

Robin thought fast. "Tony-_kun_, did you restrain Usopp at all before you left the room?"

"No! I didn't think about it… should I?"

"Well, in his current state—"

The sound of a gun cocking brought everyone's attention to the door that Chopper had run out of. Usopp stood there, still in his Navy outfit, pointing a gun at the crew.

"Okay," he said slowly. "Let's make this nice and easy. I don't want to hurt anyone, so if you just bring me back to the Marine base, I'll make sure that they don't chase after you. Is that okay with—?"

Luffy pulled back his fist; Zoro readied his swords; Nami prepared her Clima Takt; Sanji set his foot back; Chopper changed into Kung Fu Point; Robin crossed her arms; Franky held his forearm, pointing the fist; and Brook prepared Shikomizue.

Zoro spoke. "Usopp. We know that you're not yourself right now, but if you want to fight, we'll fight you. Are you sure you want to face all of us?"

Usopp stared at the battle-ready crew. His legs shook, but his hand remained clenched around the gun. "I—I—"

"I'll make it easy for you," said Robin, plucking the gun out of Usopp's hand and tossing it overboard. Usopp stared in shock.

"Wh… what was that!? Are you all monsters!?"

Luffy laughed, relaxing now that Usopp didn't seem so ready to fight. "No, but some of us are pretty close!"

"Now, Usopp, if you don't mind terribly, we'll have to tie you up for now. Sorry about that." Sanji took a drag from his cigarette.

"Wait! Are you going to turn me in for a ransom? And how do you know my name?"

Robin patiently said "I mean no offense towards you, Usopp, but do you really think that the Navy would be willing to barter with pirates for a single sniper? They have plenty of snipers back at the base, I'm sure. Not only that, but if we wanted money, we would have either kidnapped a Marine of higher rank and importance – not some measly sniper – or simply stolen the money from the ship.

"And as for how we know your name… we'll talk about that later." She restrained him with several limbs, and he started to freak out at being held down by them. "Could someone get some rope?"

Nami produced some rope and Usopp was immediately tied down – his wrists tied together and ankles likewise tied so that he couldn't escape. They voted to place him in the crow's nest, so that he couldn't very well escape unless he wanted to risk a fall from the high place.

* * *

The crew sat together around the table in the dining room. Chopper and Luffy were staring down at the table with sad expressions. The rest of the crew was rather quiet – except for Franky, who was still bawling.

"Franky!" Yelled Sanji, annoyed. "Will you stop crying already?"

"Sh-Shut up! I told you I'm not crying!" Franky took out a ukulele and strummed it. "I shall sing a song for this sad situation: Mourning for Lost Memory!"

"Oh, put that thing away and shut up a minute," grumbled Zoro, glaring at Franky. Even with one eye, the force of his glare had not diminished at all within the two years that they were separated. Franky meekly put away his instrument and stopped crying.

"_Thank_ you," muttered Nami, putting her head in her hands. "So does anyone have any plans on getting Usopp's memory back?"

"Hm…" Robin thought. "Tony-_kun_, do you know how he lost his memory?"

"It appeared to be head trauma," said Chopper without looking up. "I'm guessing he hit his head somewhere while overboard and got amnesia."

"Hey, can't we just hit him on the head again?" Luffy suggested. He stood up to try it, but Zoro and Sanji firmly pushed him back down.

"It doesn't really work like that, Luffy…" said Chopper. "If we hit him with the same force, in the same spot, it might only make it worse. As a doctor, I don't want to risk that."

"Hm… okay."

"I might have read something similar to this in our library," said Robin, standing up. "If I'm wrong, then our chance is gone and Usopp will never remember us."

"Don't be so morbid, Robin!" Nami groaned. "Look, I vote that the rest of us take Usopp around the ship (we'll leave his wrists tied, not his ankles) and see if that jogs his memory. Everybody in?"

"_Hai_, Nami-_swan_!"

"Aah! Sanji, you're bleeding again! Nami, I agree with you!"

"Yeah! That sounds fun!"

"You do that. I'm going to work out a bit."

"Perhaps I can help him remember with a song~!"

"I'd love to go, but I have to check on Sunny! Yow!"

The ones who decided to go stood and headed to the crow's nest.


	3. Touring The Sunny! Remeeting Friends!

When Luffy, Nami, Chopper, Sanji, and Brook reached the crow's nest, they found Usopp lying on his side, trying to wriggle out of his bonds. He heard them and turned over so that he was facing them. "So, this is it?" he said angrily. "You're going to kill me? Well, I'm going to die bravely, like a real Marine!"

"First off, your legs are shaking," said Nami. "Second, we're not going to kill you. We're going to take you on a walk around the ship and see if that refreshes your memory at all."

"AAAH! SKELETON!" Usopp screamed, noticing Brook for the first time. The latter of the two chuckled.

"Yohohoho… indeed, I am just bones now. I am 'Just Bones' Brook! Pleasure to meet you again, Usopp-_san_! My poor eyes can hardly stand seeing you like this… ah, but I don't have eyes, since I am a skeleton. Skull~joke!"

"T-This is ridiculous! Skeletons can't walk, talk, or have afros!"

"Well… you see, I had very strong roots when I was alive." Brook grabbed his afro to prove his point.

"Quit recreating the time when you two first met." Nami knelt by Usopp and undid the ropes around his ankles. He looked at her.

"What, is this going to be part of my torture? My legs need to be free or something?"

"Oh, cut the crap!" She yanked him to his feet by his ear.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"

"Look, you're coming with us around the Sunny, got it!?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am," he whispered.

"Ah, Nami-_swan_ is so lovely when she's giving an order~!"

Luffy laughed. "Usopp, it's gonna be okay!"

"How can you be so sure? You people don't know anything about me, except my name!"

"Oh no?" said Nami coolly. "I bet you joined the Marines about a month ago."

"Wh-"

Luffy thought. "Hm… you probably washed up by the base naked."

"I-"

"And you couldn't remember anything except your name!" chimed in Chopper. Usopp's mouth dropped open.

"How did you—?"

"To put it simply, Usopp," said Sanji, "you're part of our crew. You're our excellent and indispensable sharpshooter, and we can't very well let the Marines have you, can we?"

"I was part of this crew!? No way! There's no way I'd ever be a filthy pirate!"

"Funny," said Nami dryly, "a little over a month ago, you'd have said that you'd never become a Marine."

"No! We Marines stand for justice, and the people! We always do the right thing – we're the good guys! Pirates are the bad guys, always causing havoc and terrorizing villages!"

Luffy cracked up. "Usopp, come on! We've never ever terrorized any villages! In fact, we've _saved_ a few!"

Nami nodded. "My village, Cocoyashi—"

"—Drum Island—"

"—Thriller Bark—"

"—Baratie—"

"—and Alabasta, and Skypiea, and Water 7, and Fishman Island, and even your village, Usopp!"

"My village?"

"Uh-huh! There was a really weird guy who acted like a cat, and a hypnotist! And we saved your friends!"

"Friends…?"

Nami nodded. "Miss Kaya, plus your little friends for when you played pirate – who were they… er, I think they were Pepper, Onion, and Carrot."

"Hmph." Usopp turned his head. "I don't believe you. You pirates are probably up to something, trying to trick me with false memories."

"Suit yourself." Nami grabbed his shoulder, indicating Luffy to do the same. "All the same, we're going on a walk around the ship."

Luffy jumped down first and stretched his arms to reach Usopp, who screamed. "What is this!?"

"Haha! Usopp, you know what it is!" his face fell. "Oh, right… you don't… it's a devil fruit power! I ate the Gum-Gum fruit, so I'm made of rubber!"

Once everyone had gotten down, Usopp stared at all of them. "Y-You guys really are the Strawhat pirates, right? So…" he pointed to Luffy. "You're _the_ Monkey D. Luffy?"

Luffy laughed. "Yeah! You're looking at a 400,000,000-bounty man! Hahaha!"

Usopp pointed to Nami. "You're… Cat Burglar Nami?"

"And don't you forget it."

"Candy Floss Lover Chopper, the pet?"

"Usopp, I'm not a pet!" Chopper stomped his foot angrily.

"O-Okay, okay! You must be… Brook?"

"Yohohoho! At your service, Usopp-_san_!"

"You're…" Usopp pointed to Sanji and paused. "Um…"

"Oh, good god," muttered Sanji, "have they _still_ not fixed the wanted poster? I'm Black Leg Sanji, _baka_! But hey, as long as you're a Marine…" he struck a pose. "You think you could take a picture and send it to Headquarters so they can update it?"

"Sure, sure…" Usopp dug around in his uniform and pulled out a Baby Transponder Snail. He was about to use it to call Headquarters and ask for a connection to send a picture to, but Nami snatched it away from him.

"N-Nami-_swan_!"

"Oi, Cat Burglar!"

Nami stowed away the Snail. "Sorry, we can't risk you making calls from this thing. Don't worry, Sanji-_kun_; I'm sure they'll update it soon anyway!"

Sanji looked like he was going to cry.

"Moving on." Nami and Luffy marched Usopp with them. As the little group walked, they saw Zoro, working out on the deck – swinging ridiculous amounts of weight around as usual. He saw them and waved, holding onto the bar with one hand.

Usopp's legs started shaking again. "R-Roronoa Z-Zoro!"

"Hm? You want something?"

"Gah! Nothing!" He added in a whisper, "He's scary…"

"It's his face that's the problem," said Sanji. Zoro glared at the cook, but wasn't willing to interrupt his routine to trade insults. The group moved past him to the inside of the ship. They brought Usopp down to the aquarium room. His mouth dropped open.

"This ship has a fish tank!? That's so cool—I mean, Marine ships have that too! You pirates can't possibly top our ships. They're the best in the world."

"Pft. Don't you tell Franky you said that."

"F-Franky?" They were heading down to the engine room. "You mean Cyborg Franky?"

"The one and hopefully only," said Sanji, taking a drag from his cigarette. "But he's more robot than human now."

They came into the room to find Franky finishing up whatever he was doing. He turned around and saw them. "Yow! You guys came to see the Super Armored Me, right?" he struck his trademark pose, making a star with his forearms.

"SO COOL!" yelled Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp. The first two looked at Usopp, who quickly looked away.

"I mean… um, he's not so great."

"Your eyes are sparkling, Usopp-_san_," noted Brook.

"Usopp! You wanna see what happens when I press my nose!?"

Usopp tried to glare at Franky, though this was rather difficult with his eyes sparkling over the robotic features. "My wrists are tied, in case you didn't notice. It's some kind of bomb anyway, isn't it?"

"Fine, I'll do it then!" Luffy leaned over and pressed Franky's nose. A few seconds later, his hair popped out in a fashion similar to Brook's. Usopp cracked up, and then tried to stop laughing to show his indifference.

"You wanna walk with us, Franky?" Chopper looked up at the near-8 ft. man, who shook his head.

"Sorry, Chopper! I gotta refill on Cola!" He strolled out of the engine room, waving.

Next they visited the library. Once again, Luffy went first and grabbed Usopp after him while the rest climbed down. Robin looked up from her book, which (judging by the stack next to her) was the fifth she was on.

"Hello, Usopp, everyone," she smiled. "Any luck so far?"

Nami shook her head. "Nope. He doesn't seem to remember anything. You?"

"I believe that I am close – I think it may be in this one. If no one minds, I'll call a meeting if I find anything."

"Sounds good to me!" Luffy laughed.

"Ah…" sighed Sanji. "Robin-_chwan_'s so smart~!"

"Excuse me, Robin-_san_," said Brook politely, "may I see your panties?"

"She's BUSY! Shut UP, you pervert!" Nami smacked him upside the skull.

Usopp stared at Robin. "You're… are you Devil's Child Nico Robin!? The one that sank six Marine ships!?"

Robin looked at him and smiled. "Why, yes I am. Though I was not given my bounty for any ship-sinking."

"But that's what they told us—"

"Yeah, yeah," said Nami, grabbing his ear again. "Look, we're going to the last place, so Luffy'll get you up the ladder again."

"Ow!"

Eventually, they reached the last place. Usopp stopped and stared. "What…" he whispered. "What is this?"

"It's your factory – you like to tinker around in here." Sanji looked at him hopefully. "Ring a bell?"

Usopp looked at the words USOPP FACTORY painted in bold on a banner. "You pirates made this up to trick me, didn't you?"

"Usopp, it's like Robin said earlier – why would we go to all this trouble for one sniper, unless we were telling the truth? Not only that, but why would we do all of this if we were just going to kill you? We could have tossed you overboard with everyone else, or just left you on board."

Usopp glared at her. "Why are you asking _me_? How do I know how your minds work? You're pirates! Your minds work in diabolical ways unknown to us Marines!"

"I guess that's a good thing, then. It lets us plot against the Navy without them knowing."

Usopp tried to think up a clever response, but before he could, Robin's voice came over the loudspeaker.

"_Minna_, please come to the dining room. I believe I've found a solution."


	4. A Special Turnip? Reaching Rain Island!

**I'm sorry for updating this a day late, but it was either this or give y'all a really really short chapter.**

* * *

The group who had just finished the tour of the Sunny came to the dining room, where everyone else was sitting down. Robin was at the head of the table, a thick book placed in front of her. Luffy happily set Usopp down between himself and Chopper.

"So you found something, Robin?" Zoro prompted. Robin nodded.

"Indeed." Opening the book in front of her, she flipped to a page near the beginning of it and pointed to a picture. Everyone leaned in (except for Usopp, who pretended not to be interested) and looked at it.

"Is that…" said Zoro, "Robin, is that a potato?"

Robin shook her head. "It's a turnip – and the solution to the problem. You see, _this_ kind of turnip apparently has the power (once eaten) to restore lost memories."

Luffy laughed. "That's so _cool_! Usopp, we can get your memory back!"

Usopp glared at him. "Very funny, Strawhat. It's poisonous, isn't it? This is just a trick to get me to eat a poisonous plant!"

Nami sighed. "Usopp. Either you shut your mouth or we'll put you back in the crow's nest and get Brook to put you to sleep."

Usopp shut his mouth.

"Thank you." Nami motioned to Robin to continue.

"This turnip is only found on three particular islands," explained Robin. "We appear to have missed the chance to reach two of them already. The first island stated lies in the East Blue."

The crewmembers from the East Blue groaned in distress.

"The second one is in the Grand Line, on one of the routes that we apparently didn't choose."

More groans.

"However," she continued, "the third one should be fairly close. Unless I am mistaken – navigation is not my strong suit – we may be able to reach land within the next three days."

Nami smiled. "That's good. Robin, do you think you could point out a rough position of the island on the maps, and I'll let everyone know how long it'll take?"

"Certainly." The women rose and left the room to go to their room. The men started talking amongst themselves, with Usopp occasionally inserting a cynical comment. Nami and Robin soon returned, with Nami confirming that the island would only take a few days to reach.

"Woo-hoo!" cheered Luffy. "Do they have meat there!? Is it a meat island!?"

"We'll find out when we get there, Luffy," said Sanji.

"They should at least have some booze, though," muttered Zoro, closing his eye.

* * *

As promised, the Sunny docked at the island on the third day. The island (what was visible of it) was completely barren and dirty. There were no signs of life whatsoever, and the overcast sky didn't help the atmosphere at all.

Luffy leapt off of the ship. "Let's go find that turnip! And the meat!"

Zoro and Sanji followed suit. Nami, Robin, Franky, and Brook did the same. Chopper leaned over the side and called "Should we bring Usopp?"

"Yeah," said Sanji. "If we find the turnip, we might have to give it to him right away."

The one in question shuffled to the side of the ship (his ankles and wrists were tied). "U-Um, you pirates may not know this, but I actually have a condition. It's—"

"Is it 'Can't-go-on-the-island disease'?" Nami interrupted.

Luffy laughed. "Maybe it's 'I'll-die-if-I-set-foot-on-this-island-itis'!"

Usopp stared at them. "What… how—I mean, so! You already know of my condition! In that case, you'll know that I can't go on the island, so—"

"Cut the crap and come with us," said Zoro. Luffy stretched out his arms and grabbed Usopp, placing him gently on the ground. Nami knelt and untied his ankles to make for easier walking. Usopp started to tremble.

"Th-There's something you should know! I'm actually…" he puffed up his chest to make himself seem more impressive. "I'm actually an Admiral! If you do something to me, I have the power to telepathically call my many soldiers by my side instantly! Even you Strawhats will be helpless against such sheer numbers!"

Nami yanked on the rope tying his wrists together. "Less chatting, more walking. Move it, cannon-boy!"

"Y-Yes, ma'am…" he whispered meekly.

The crew walked further into the island. Within the first minute, drops fell from the sky, and soon it was raining fairly heavily. The ones without long sleeves shivered a bit in the cold water.

About five minutes in, Luffy paused. He stretched his neck high into the air and yelled "Oi, guys! There's a city up ahead! And it looks really cool!"

Much to his disappointment, his friends made him walk with them. It took them a full twenty minutes more to reach the city, by which time they were soaked from the rain.

In the city, tall rectangular buildings stood all around them. Many had lights on in the sleek glass windows, indicating that there were people inside. The concrete streets were filled with people – and oddly enough, though none were dressed for the weather, no one seemed to mind the rain one bit. Many had sunglasses (even though the sun was nowhere in sight) and scarves on, and over half of them held tall cardboard cups with delicious aromas wafting from them; several also had tattoos on their necks in the design of a chain or a circle of briers. Few glanced at the Strawhats as they passed by.

One building stood in the center and stood out from the rest: It was very tall, topped with a needle-like thing. At the base, it was very wide, but as it got towards the center, it narrowed, widening again at the top. If you squinted, you could see that there were windows in the wider part at the top.

"Well, well," said Robin, looking around, "this certainly seems to be a very advanced city. I've never seen streets like these or these kind of buildings."

"H-Hey…" said Luffy, shivering, "what are those things that the people are holding? They smell tasty…"

Usopp sniffed the air. "Huh, yeah, they do—I mean, um, we have those back at Headquarters. In fact, I invented them!"

"Good," said Zoro. "Maybe you can tell us what they are, then?"

"Why should I tell you, Roronoa Zoro?"

"They're probably some kind of special local drink," said Nami. Pointing to a low-roofed building, she said "They probably get them from there. See, most of them are coming out with the cups."

"In that case, why don't we go there, dry off, ask for info, and maybe grab a drink?" said Sanji, also shivering in the steady downpour.

The rest voiced their agreement (except for Usopp, who pretended not to care) and headed for the building. To their surprise, the second they stepped inside, several large blasts of air came at them from all sides. In five seconds, the air blasts stopped, and the crew found themselves completely dry.

They walked up to the counter, where very few people were sitting; most were on cushy-looking armchairs or at tables, and almost all were writing something on paper. The blue-haired woman with a nose piercing behind the counter approached them and cheerfully asked if they wanted a drink, completely disregarding the crew's strange appearances. They ordered hot drinks – the ones that the locals had been holding were a special kind of coffee, with a design in the floating foam – some were in the shape of a heart, some in the shape of a leaf. Upon drinking them, all of the crew found them to be quite delicious.

"Say," said Nami, blowing on her coffee to cool it down, "can you tell us about this island? We only docked here about half an hour ago."

"You're newcomers, are you?" the woman smiled. "Welcome to Rain Island, where it's always raining or snowing! Personally, I think that whoever named this island could have been a bit more creative, but…" she shrugged. "Anyway, you said that you got here about half an hour ago? In that case, you nine got to experience half of the longest drought we've ever had! Well, as far as I know, that was the longest drought…"

Zoro stared. "Your longest drought is one hour long?"

"Uh-huh! Like I said, it's always raining. Once in a while, it may stop for a minute, but otherwise, it just keeps coming!"

"Opposite of Alabasta, huh?" said Chopper.

"Alabasta?"

"It's an island in the Grand Line – almost completely desert, and only rains once every couple years," explained Nami.

"Hm! So they get to see the sun?"

"You've never theen the thun!?" yelled Luffy incredulously, his tongue sticking out of his mouth due to the fact that he'd burned it by trying to drink his coffee too quickly.

"Uh-uh. Even if it stops raining," explained the woman, "it's always cloudy, no matter what. Not that I mind, of course. Born and raised here, so I'm used to it."

"You're so _smart_, my dear!" exclaimed Sanji. "Tell me, what name have the heavens bestowed you with~?"

"My name's Zoë and _you'd_ better back down, sir." She leaned over and glared at him until he shrank back.

Brook tilted his hat to her. "Pardon me, Zoë-_san_, but may I—"

"Zoë-_san_," said Robin, shamelessly interrupting Brook, "we've actually come here because we read of a certain turnip that can cure amnesia. Our friend here has amnesia." She nodded to Usopp.

"Don't tell her anything! The turnip's poison, I know it!" yelled Usopp. A few people glanced up, but most ignored him.

"I see…" Zoë studied Usopp. "In that case, you'd better go to Tallest Tower!"

"Is that the weird inwardly-arcing one?" asked Franky.

"Yes. Those are where the higher-ups are, so you'd best talk to them about anything that has to do with the turnip. Those turnips are considered an island treasure, you see."

"Hey, you and that turnip have something in common, _Marimo_. You're both national treasures."

"Piss off."

They thanked her for the drinks and info and stepped back into the rain.


	5. Tallest Tower! Next: Desolate Rock!

"Hey, that's interesting…" said Nami as they walked. She stopped and pointed out something in the dirt by the sidewalk.

"Eh?" Luffy looked down and squinted. "I don't see anything…"

"Look carefully…" said Nami. "There's a flower there."

"So there is!" said Usopp, leaning in as well. "You know, I've seen this kind of flower before. It was on one of my spectacular adventures when I was just a chore boy. You see, I had snuck out of the base to—"

"It's interesting," continued Nami, poking at the near-transparent flower (which the others now noticed had a small white blossom at the top). "The plants here appear to have adapted to the unique weather conditions. Since the sun never comes out, they have a way to convert water into chemical energy, thereby giving it a transparent look."

"Fascinating," muttered Zoro. "Can we move on now?"

"How _dare_ you dismiss Nami-_swan_!" yelled Sanji, aiming a kick at Zoro, who blocked it casually with a sword.

"Sanji-_kun_, please don't fight right now. Zoro's right; we have to go."

"_Hai_, Nami-_swan_!"

* * *

They eventually reached Tallest Tower. Standing at the base, they realized that there was a box that apparently went to the top. The man on guard wouldn't let them in until they gave a good reason. After they gave their reason, he said that they'd have to wait for an appointed time to see the higher-ups. A minute later, covered in bruises, he allowed them through.

The Strawhats crowded inside the box and the doors shut, sealing them in and making it very crowded.

"So how does this—" Franky began, but before he finished his sentence, the box shot up, causing them all to fall to the floor at the sudden jerk. It rocketed to the top of the tower and came to a sudden stop, flinging the group to the ceiling and back down. The doors slid open and they tumbled out, falling over each other. Usopp tried to get back inside the box to get away, but Nami grabbed him back with a yank on the rope.

They looked up and realized that several people were staring at them – many young men were standing around, apparently in the middle of conversations, and holding cups that apparently had the same kind of coffee that the Strawhats had drank not an hour ago. One man approached them – he was wearing a scarf and had a tattoo on his wrist of a dragon eating its tail.

"Er, hello…" he said. "Did you have an appointment?"

"Not exactly," said Nami. "We persuaded the guard to let us pass, though."

"We'll just get straight to the point," said Zoro. Pointing to Usopp, he said "This jerk has amnesia, and we hear that you have a certain turnip that can cure such a thing. Is that right?"

The man looked confused. "Um, we do?" he turned to the others and said "Hey, do we have some kind of amnesia-curing turnip?"

The others muttered amongst themselves until someone said "Um… yeah, I think so."

"Okay." The man turned back to them and said "Apparently we do. What about it?"

Sanji sighed. "Like moss-head _just said_, our friend has amnesia, so we'd like to have one turnip – just one – to cure him."

"Oh! I see. And, ah… what are your names?"

The crew gave their names; Usopp didn't, so Luffy gave it for him. The man gave his name – Arthur.

They waited. The man smiled expectantly.

"Pardon me, Arthur-_san_," said Brook, "but where is the turnip that we need?"

"The what? Oh, right! The turnip…" he turned to someone else and said "Hey, you! Do you know where the turnips are?"

The man shrugged and said "Who are you again?"

"I'm Arthur!"

"Oh!"

"For God's sake, what's with you guys?" said Zoro impatiently.

"We…" Arthur turned back to him. "We… um… hold on… that's right! We have rather poor memories."

"Isn't that a bit weird for people who live in a city that's supposed to have something to cure amnesia?" said Chopper.

Arthur shrugged. "Anyway, the turnips are…" he frowned. "Hold on."

The next ten minutes consisted of the men talking amongst themselves in a circle, scratching their heads. Arthur eventually came back. He said, with spread hands and a sheepish smile, "We… can't remember where they are."

Franky hit him. "Did that help?"

Arthur rose shakily. "Who are you again?"

"Oh, good job, you made it worse," said Nami.

"No, no, hold on…" Arthur shook his head to clear it. "I think I _do_ remember something… yes! I think you can start looking at Desolate Rock."

"And where's that? Never mind," added Sanji, "you probably don't remember."

"Well… it's outside the city. Does that help?"

"Yeah, actually, it does. Would it be alright if two of us kept our amnesiac friend here while the rest of us go and search?" Nami questioned.

"You could stay in a… hotel," Arthur suggested.

"For free?"

"Well, no, I mean… you'd have to pay—"

Nami repeated her question with the Clima Takt at his throat. He agreed to pay for their stay.

Stowing away the weapon, she pulled out eight sticks. "We all draw straws. The two that get the short straws stay with Usopp. Okay?"

They drew straws – Chopper and Robin drew the short straws, and they started to make arrangements to stay at a hotel.

"Good luck, whoever you are!" said Arthur, waving.

"_Yosh_! Let's go, everyone! To Mezzy Fit Dock!"


	6. Puzzles In Poems! Inside Desolate Rock!

"So…"

Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Sanji, Franky, and Brook stood in front of what they supposed was Desolate Rock. It was about three feet taller than Brook and about twenty feet around. The rain was still falling, turning everything a darker color.

"What exactly do we do here?" continued Zoro. "That guy, Arthur, didn't tell us anything else."

"Maybe we could start by exploring it?" suggested Nami.

"Nami-_swan_, you're so _smart_!"

"Can it, love cook."

After they broke up Zoro and Sanji's fight, they set off exploring the rock. It had only been a minute when Brook called them.

"_Minna-san_, please come here! I've found something!"

They gathered to where Brook was kneeling. About four feet up from the ground was a rectangle indented into the rock, and an inscription next to it:

_Only the hand of the pure of heart_

_ May open the door to the Desolate Rock_

"Hm… I don't get it…" Luffy squinted at the inscription and tilted his head, as if that would make the meaning clearer.

"I think it means that if you have a 'pure heart' (whatever that means) and you put your palm on that rectangle, it'll open up some kind of doorway for us." Sanji lit a new cigarette.

"And…" he continued. "NO ONE IS PURER THAN MY NAMI-_SWAN_!"

Nami smiled. "Well, of _course_, I'd have the purest heart here…" she placed her palm on the rectangle.

Nothing happened.

"N-No way!" she withdrew her hand and glared at the rock. "Are you saying that I'm not pure of heart? ARE YOU?" she kicked it, only to hop back with a hurt toe.

Sanji stepped forward. "You damn rock," he growled. "Let's see what you make of me!"

He slammed his palm on the rectangle and held it there.

Nothing happened.

"H-How…?" he took it off and glared at the rock. "This thing must be broken."

"Perhaps I may try?" Brook placed his bony palm on the rectangle.

"…Brook?" said Zoro. "Even if you _had_ a pure heart, your hand is made of bone. I'm pretty sure that thing's designed for human flesh – no offense."

"I guess that rules me out!" Franky struck his signature pose.

"You wouldn't count anyway," muttered Sanji. "You're a pervert."

"Aw, thanks, Sanji!"

"That wasn't a compliment!"

They were distracted from their bickering by a rumbling sound. Turning to the rock, they saw that Luffy was withdrawing his hand from the rectangle while a large section of it slid into the ground, revealing a passageway that apparently sloped underground. He turned and grinned.

"Hey, it opened!" he said happily. "I bet it leads to some really cool secret place!" he started down the slope. "Come on, everyone!"

They stared after him and started to follow. "So… 'Pure of heart' now means 'idiot'?" asked Nami.

"Nah, that can't be it…" said Sanji. He jerked a thumb at Zoro. "If that were true, it would have opened the second that _this_ moron got within ten feet of it."

They would have started fighting again had they not already entered the passage, which was extremely narrow, forcing them to walk single-file: Luffy took the lead, of course; Zoro and Sanji were close behind; Franky had to sidle sideways in order to fit in the passage; Brook ducked his head a bit so as to protect his afro, and Nami brought up the rear for a good position to flee in case of an attack.

Eventually – after enduring a dark (for the rock had slid shut behind them), ten-minute long, and Luffy-complaint-filled walk ("It's so dark! Are we almost to the secret place? Hey, Sanji, I'm hungry!"), they came out into a large chamber, which was as dark as the passageway had been. Flicking on his lighter, Sanji held up the dim light and walked carefully around the room. He found some torches on the wall and used his light on one, afterwards picking it up and using it to light the others. After he put that one back in its rack, he turned and, with the others, studied the writing on the wall in front of them, which was written next to a door-like opening.

_In order to pass_

_ You must face the thing that you_

_ Fear above all else_

"In other words, we have to face our worst fear," Zoro said (mainly for Luffy's benefit). Luffy nodded.

"Yow!" Franky yelled. "The Great Franky isn't scared of anything!"

"You go first, then," snapped Sanji.

"Actually," said Nami, "we'd all have to go single-file again, but we could go together, maybe hold one another's hands. That way we can help each other out if one of us can't handle facing their 'worst fear', whatever it is."

"Ah, Nami-_swan_'s so lovely when she's reasoning with us!" Sanji swooned.

"No one wants to hear you gush about women," muttered Zoro. "But I agree with Nami. Luffy, you okay with that?"

"Yeah, of course!"

They held hands in a row (Sanji insisted on holding Nami's hand, though he ended up holding Zoro's hand as well) and descended into the narrow passageway.

* * *

**Next chapter will be an omake showing how Usopp joined the Marines :)**


	7. An Omake? Usopp's Marine Adventures!

**Aaand here is your omake, as promised!**

* * *

I opened my eyes slowly. Trying to sit up, I gasped and fell back down at the sudden pain in my side.

"You awake?"

I turned to the voice, which was coming from a young man in a white-and-blue outfit with the word "Marines" on the white hat. He was leaning in from a door that he'd apparently opened, and looking relieved.

"I'll get my superior," he continued. "Hang tight, alright?"

Before I could say anything, he left, shutting the door behind him. I looked around me and realized that I was in some kind of hospital – or maybe a building that had a hospital-like section to it. I was lying on a white bed with a pulled-back curtain. There were identical beds on either side of me, part of a row which was reflected on the opposite wall.

Looking down, I noticed that I wasn't wearing a shirt (but I did, thankfully, have boxers on). My stomach area was bandaged, and the side that had hurt upon sitting up had some spots of blood on it. Reaching up, I felt that my head was lightly wrapped up – though it didn't hurt.

The door opened again and I looked around. A man older than the one that had come in before was coming in and shutting it behind him. He came over to my bed with a glass of water; he brought up a chair, sat down, and set the water on the table next to the bed.

"Hello, sonny," he said gently. "How are you feeling?"

"Well…" I said. "My side hurts a bit, but if I sit up, it hurts a lot more…"

"I suppose that's to be expected," he said. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Lieutenant Robert of the Marines. We found you floating at sea, alone – and without clothes, but that's not important. Now, can you tell me your name?"

"Usopp," I said. "My name's Usopp."

"Nice to meet you, Usopp," he said, smiling and holding out his hand. It was difficult due to my current position, but I awkwardly shook his hand.

"Could you tell me how you happened to end up in the sea?"

I opened my mouth, but with some confusion realized that I didn't know. "I… I'm not sure, sir."

"Do you know what ship you were on before being thrown overboard?"

"I… no."

"Can you tell me what island your village is on?"

I shook my head with a growing sense of dread. "I… I don't remember anything. I don't remember anything!" I looked at him desperately. "Why don't I remember anything!?"

He put a hand on my shoulder and gave me the water. I took a few sips, which brought my attention to my thirst. I handed it back to him and said "Thank you…"

"Usopp, I'm no doctor, but from the looks of it, it seems like you have amnesia. You're sure you can't remember anything except your name?"

I nodded.

"You can't remember your hometown? Your parents?" he pressed. "Any friends?"

At this last question I felt a kind of pang in my abdomen. I frowned and felt the bandaged area, but the feeling was gone in less than three seconds. I shook my head.

"No, sir. No friends that I can recall."

He frowned. "Hm… that's unfortunate. I'm sorry that you can't remember anything, Usopp."

I looked down.

"I'll tell you what," he said suddenly, "how about we get you some food, and we'll discuss things after that? I'll bet you're pretty hungry by now."

My stomach rumbled at his words. "I guess I am…"

"It's no wonder," he laughed. "After all, you've been asleep for two days."

"Two days!?" I exclaimed. He nodded.

"If _he_ slept for two days, he would say that he missed ten meals."

Lt. Robert turned around, having been about to leave. "Sorry?"

"I…" I frowned. "Where did that come from? Who's 'he'?" I looked up. "I'm sorry, I still don't remember… I don't know where that came from…"

He looked at me a bit longer, nodded, and left. I turned my head and looked back up at the ceiling.

About ten or so minutes later, a younger boy came, pushing a cart filled with delicious-looking food. He left it by my bedside, gave me an uncertain salute, and left. I sat up slowly, stopping whenever my side hurt and moving again when it stopped, and managed to raise myself up enough to eat. I leaned against the wall and started eating.

The food was delicious, but it wasn't quite as good as…

Not quite as good as what?

I was just finishing when Lt. Robert returned, flanked by two seemingly lower-ranking Marines. He pushed the cart aside and sat down again, the others standing on either side of him with hands behind their backs.

"You finished, Usopp?" he asked. I nodded.

"Thank you for the meal," I said, remembering my manners (at least I remembered _something_).

"It was nothing," he said dismissively. "I've been thinking it over, and I was wondering if you'd like to join the Marines."

I stared at him. "Join the Marines?"

"Of course, you don't have to if you don't want to," he said quickly. "But we don't know how long it will take to find your hometown, so in the meantime you can work for us. As a chore boy, of course, and after you're all healed," he added.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant!" said one of the men. "With all due respect, sir, I don't think that recruiting him is a good idea. There have been cases of pirate spies being planted in the Navy. He may be only pretending to have amnesia, and the wound could have been put there on purpose."

The Lieutenant looked up and nodded. "That's very good thinking, soldier. But don't you worry; I've already taken care of that. I've checked all the bounty posters, and he's nowhere on them. And even if he were being used by pirates as a spy, they'd have some way to communicate – he didn't have any Transponder Snail or any kind of communication method at all."

The soldier nodded and stepped back. "Forgive my rudeness, sir!"

"No, that kind of thinking is what we need in the Navy. You'll go far, son."

"Thank you, sir!"

He turned back to me. "So what do you say, Usopp? Will you work for us for now?"

I looked at him. "I… well… yes, I will. I'll do it."

He smiled. "Wonderful! You'll start as soon as you're all healed up!"

I nodded.

* * *

Pushing a mop down a hallway, I thought about the past week. Lt. Robert had commented, upon seeing my healed wound after the fourth day, that I was a quick healer. Since then, I'd been pushing mop and broom down the vast halls of the base, and learning how things work.

I'd learned that the Marines were essentially the good guys in the world. They kept citizens safe from the bad guys – the pirates. Pirates were diabolical, with endless tricks up their sleeves and evil minds that never stopped thinking of ways to harm the Marines and citizens. Bounty posters were posted on billboards all around the base, and I looked up at one as I passed it – and paused.

There were nine posters that caught my eye, nine posters of pirates. The first one was a weirdly happy-looking guy with a straw hat and a scar underneath his left eye. According to the poster, his name was Monkey D. Luffy, a.k.a. Strawhat Luffy. He had a bounty of – I gulped – four hundred million berries. I wondered what a carefree-looking guy could have done to earn such a high number.

Looking around at the others, I saw that they were "Pirate Hunter Zoro – 120,000,000"; "Tony Tony Chopper (Pet) – 50" (he didn't look dangerous at all); "Devil's Child Nico Robin – 80,000,000"; "Cat Burglar Nami – 16,000,000"; "Cyborg Franky – 44,000,000"; "Black Leg Sanji – 77,000,000"; "Humming Brook – 33,000,000", and "King of the Snipers Sogeking – 30,000,000".

Sogeking… Sniper King? King of the Snipers… hm. He looked really cool! But I forced myself to remember that despite their appearances, all pirates were evil at heart. It's too bad – Sogeking might make a good sniper for the Marines if he hadn't taken the path of a pirate.

When I glanced at the one for the man named Brook again, I noticed that it looked very old. Checking the date, I saw that the bounty had been placed over 30 years ago! And judging by the photo, the man was at least forty years old, so that would make him at least 70 today! Surely someone had just forgotten to take down the poster… this Brook was probably dead.

I was taking it down when someone next to me said "That bounty is still active. Why are you taking the poster down?"

I turned around and saw someone standing next to me. He was about my height, and wore a green bandana on his head with glasses perched on top of it. His hair was pink, and judging by his coat and sign, was a Captain. I saluted with the poster in my hand. "Sir! Yes, sir, I looked at the date and thought that this pirate was no longer active."

"Good thinking, but that's not necessarily true," he said gently. "First off, many pirates continue on well into their old age, and fight until they die." He took the poster from me and put it back on the board. "Besides, we've recently received word that this pirate is still around. He was last seen at Sabaody Archipelago, giving his final concert under the rock name 'Soul King'. Apparently, he's only a skeleton now, and known to be working with the Strawhat pirates."

"A moving skeleton – sir?" I asked. He nodded.

"Oh," he added, "at ease. You can call me Coby."

I relaxed a bit.

"You see this one?" he continued, pointing at the picture of Strawhat Luffy. I nodded.

"A 400,000,000 bounty seems very high…" I said.

"If anyone deserves it, Luffy-_san_ does," he said cheerfully. "He's my friend! He's the one that pushed me to follow my dream to become a Marine!"

I stared at him. "You're friends… with a pirate?"

He gasped and covered his mouth. "Oh, darn… I did it again!" he looked at me beseechingly. "Please do me a favor and don't tell anyone about it… I mean, if word got out…"

"No, of course I won't, sir – er, Coby," I said quickly. He relaxed.

"Anyway…" he coughed a bit. "He's a really good guy! Just because he's a pirate, it doesn't mean he's a bad person!"

"Pardon," I interjected, "but I was taught that all pirates are despicable, Captain…"

"Not him, that's for sure," he said cheerfully. "And this is a bit unrelated, but the Strawhat pirates – everyone on these posters–" he pointed out the nine that I had been looking at. "—they've been inactive for the past two years, and only Luffy-_san_'s bounty has been updated recently. For example, Zoro's bounty should probably be around 300,000,000 by now."

I whistled. "They sound like a real dangerous bunch…"

"Like I said, just because they're pirates…" he shrugged. "Anyway, I'm leaving this base later today. Oh, sorry – I forgot to ask… what's your name?"

"My name is Usopp," I said. "As you can see, I'm a chore boy."

"It was nice meeting you, Usopp-_san_," he said, shaking my hand. "I'll see you around, then!"

* * *

Later that day, I was carrying my broom down an outdoor hallway when I heard crying. Looking around, I set down the broom and went to find the source.

Just outside the wall separating the base from the town, a boy from the village was sitting near a tree and crying. I opened the gate and hurried over to him.

"Hey, kid," I said gently. "What's wrong?"

He looked up. "W-Who're you?"

I puffed out my chest. "I… am Admiral Usopp of the Marines!"

He giggled. "That's silly! Admirals don't walk around bases and talk to kids!"

I gasped. "You… you saw through my lie…"

"So you were lying?"

"Aah! He found out I was lying!" How could anyone see through my brilliant lies?

He giggled again. "You're funny, Mr. Marine man."

"Okay… so what's wrong?"

He sniffled and pointed up. "I was playing with my ball and it got stuck up in the tree."

I looked up. The ball was high in the tree, caught in a nook. I shook the trunk to no avail.

"Hm…" looking on the ground, I spotted a branch that was shaped like a Y. Picking the branch up, I asked him "Do you have a rubber band?"

"Um… yeah…" he dug one out of his pocket and gave it to me. I tied it around the sticks, found a good-sized rock, and placed it in the center of the band. I aimed the rock at the ball – stretched the band – and released.

The rock smacked the ball, knocking it out of the tree. The boy clapped. "Yay! Thank you, Mr. Marine man!"

"Chore boy!"

This bark from behind me made me jump. I turned around and saluted. "Y-Yes, sir!"

"Come with me!"

"Bye, Mr. Marine man!" the boy waved.

Lt. Robert led me down the hall, indoors, to a place where there were targets filled with bullet holes. He dug around in a box and handed me a flintlock. I stared at it.

"Sir…?"

"Let's see what you can do with a gun, chore boy. Hit the center of that target five times."

I stepped up to the nearest target, aimed the gun, and fired. The bullet went directly through the center. I reloaded and fired again, and again, it hit the center. Three more times I did this, and each got a bulls-eye.

Lt. Robert moved the target away. I fired five more times, and once again got five bulls-eyes. He whistled.

"Usopp… I think you have the makings of a sniper."

* * *

My first mission out at sea. My first mission. Oh god, it was terrifying. We'd probably run into some pirates, and they would kill us all, and—

"Usopp, I know you're nervous, but it's your turn to go out on sea patrol with the rest! Now let go of the pole!"

"Never!" I clung to the steel pole while some soldiers pulled on my shirt.

"Hold on," muttered one of them. He stepped up and tickled me in the side. I snorted.

"H-Hey, that's n-not fair—OW!" I fell off of the pole. They picked me up and carried me to the ship.

"Don't worry about it, Usopp," said one. "Most of the Marines almost always make it back alive!"

* * *

Underneath deck was the best place for me – I could fire a cannon at any pirate ship that came along, and it was a lot safer, too. I was heading the cannon at the front of the ship, and—

"Pirates sighted!" yelled someone above deck. They came running down and yelled "Someone open fire!"

I set up my cannon, aimed at the ship, and fired. It landed very close… I set it up and fired again. This one looked like it was heading for the deck, but for some reason, there was no explosion.

Soon enough, I heard battle yells from above. It seemed like the pirates had boarded and were attacking us. Hopefully they wouldn't think to come down here…

My comrades at the other cannons had different ideas. They raced up to deck with guns, yelling. One paused and said "Oi, Usopp, you coming up?"

"No, I'll stay here… um, just in case!" I said. He shrugged and ran up.

In just ten minutes, the sounds of battle had faded. I set up my cannon to fire at the retreating pirate ship – what? It wasn't retreating… did we lose?

"Meat! Meat, where are you?"

I turned around and saw – it couldn't have been – Strawhat Luffy…

He saw me and brightened considerably. "Usopp!" he cried happily. "You're alive! I knew it! What're you doing here? Come on; let's go back to the Sunny! Everyone misses you!"

I backed up. "H-How do you know my name? You're one of those filthy pirates, aren't you!?" My legs started shaking. "G-Go away! I-I have 8,000 men under my command, did you know!? I-If you don't want them to attack, you better get out of here real quick!"

* * *

**That... that turned out to be a _lot_ longer than I anticipated...**


	8. The Trio! Robin And Chopper's Promise!

**I'm really sorry for updating this kind of sporadically when it's supposed to be updated on Thursdays I feel like a terrible person OTL**

* * *

Robin and Chopper sat on the comfy couch in the hotel room they were currently staying in, reading books – Robin was reading up on the history of the city, and Chopper was reading about the plants indigenous to the area. Usopp, meanwhile, was—

"Oi, is this really necessary!?"

Usopp was tied up in a corner. Without looking up, Robin turned a page and said "Merely a precaution, Usopp. In your current state, we don't know whether you'd attempt to attack us or not."

"Well, in _your _current state, that is to say, the state of being a pirate, I know that you'd try to kill me given the chance!"

Chopper looked up. "But, Usopp… we've had all this time to attack you and all we've done is tie you up!" he paused. "Sorry for that," he added in a whisper.

"How do I know that you don't have something up your sleeves?"

"Because we're _friends_, Usopp!" Chopper smiled happily.

"Don't be ridiculous," he spat. "We're not friends, we never have been, and never will be. How could _I_ be friends with pirate _scum_ like you!?"

Chopper started crying.

"Hey-hey-hey!" Usopp shuffled on his knees over to Chopper and tried to comfort him. "D-Don't cry! I'm sorry!"

Robin smiled, but still didn't look up.

Chopper was still crying. "U-Usopp… you're so mean!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Usopp apologized. "I didn't mean to make you cry!"

"Tony-_kun_ can be a bit sensitive with matters such as that, Usopp," said Robin calmly.

"Well, don't blame me! It's true! I can't trust you two at all!"

"Alright," said Robin suddenly, putting down her book and looking up at last. "Since the facts that we haven't attacked you at all, only threatened you in self-defense, and made no other sign of hurting you _clearly_ can't convince you that we're harmless to you, would an oath be sufficient? And before you say that you can't trust the word of pirates," she added as Usopp opened his mouth, "we'll swear upon whatever you wish."

Chopper wiped his eyes and nodded. "Yeah, we'll do it!"

Usopp looked back and forth at them. "Well, I—I—" he sighed. "Fine. Then… swear upon your lives."

"Okay!" Chopper said cheerfully. "I swear upon Robin's life that—!"

Robin whispered something to him. He looked embarrassed. "Oh, is that what he meant? Okay! Sorry, Robin! Usopp, I swear upon my life that I won't hurt you in any way!"

Robin nodded. "And I swear upon my life that I will not intentionally cause you serious physical harm in any way unless in self-defense."

"Wow, yours sounded cooler," whispered Chopper.

Usopp stared at them. "You actually did it… okay, fine, I believe you – for now."

"Robin, can we please untie him?" Chopper asked. "I don't think he's going to attack us…"

"We can try leaving him untied – for now," agreed Robin. She knelt and untied Usopp, letting the ropes fall to the ground. He rubbed his wrists and looked at them suspiciously.

"Oh!" Chopper said suddenly. He reached into his pack, rummaged around, and pulled out a Tone Dial. "Usopp, do you recognize this?"

Some kind of trumpet started playing in a jazzy fashion. It was joined by drums and a guitar, and then –

"_Otoko ni ha yaranakya naranai toki ga aru_!"

"Eh?" Usopp stared at the Dial. "That's my voice…"

"_Tatoeba fune ga yarareta toki sa… Koitsu ga inakucha hajimaranai… Dakara ore ga naosu made… KING OF caba ooru!... Sore ga otoko no hanamichi… Sore ga ikiru michi… Hito ha kage no kyaputen to yobu... CAPTAIN USOPPU!_"

"What…" Usopp stared at it in disbelief. Chopper let the song play all the way through and put the Dial away.

"D-Do you remember that, Usopp?" he asked hopefully. "You wanted a theme song, and Brook made the music, and you wrote the lyrics, and then we recorded it on the Dial!"

Usopp looked away. "Of course I don't remember. That can't have been me singing. You must have made up something to imitate my voice."

Chopper looked down and went back to the couch to continue reading. Robin looked up at Usopp from her spot. "If you like, Usopp, I can get you some metal things and tools to keep you occupied while we wait for Luffy and the others to return."

"Well, um," said Usopp, thrown a bit by the offer. "Um, sure—"

Robin vanished in a shower of petals. Chopper barely looked up from his book when Usopp started screeching.

She returned in a matter of minutes, directly in front of Usopp. She smiled and held out some things to him, saying "Here you are. Oh, is something the matter?"

Usopp had fallen backwards and hit his head on the floor. Rubbing it, he scooted away from her. "What—what—"

"Robin, don't scare him!" said Chopper, looking up.

"_Hai_, _hai_. Merely teasing. _Gomen_, Usopp." She offered him the materials again, and he took them cautiously. Robin went back to her spot and picked up the book again.

* * *

About twenty minutes later, Chopper set down his book and went over to Usopp. "What're you making, Usopp—WOW!"

Usopp looked up. "Hm?"

In front of him were miniature figures of all the Strawhats – Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Sogeking, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, and Brook. Luffy was holding what appeared to be a piece of meat and was grinning in his usual fashion; Zoro was in a reclined position, apparently asleep; Nami appeared to be studying a map with one hand and holding the Clima Takt behind her back; Sogeking had a gun and was aiming it in a dramatic way; Sanji was doing a flying side kick; Chopper was sitting and eating candy floss; Robin had her arms crossed and several new arms were sprouted out over her crossed ones; Franky had his head tilted back, slurping a bottle of cola, and Brook was strumming his guitar in the fashion of the lead of a rock band.

Chopper picked up his and turned it over in his hooves, admiring it. "These are so COOL!"

Usopp puffed out his chest. "Well, you know, I was just fooling around. These things are no big deal. Did you know that I once made a metal figure so small that you'd have to look at it under the strongest magnifying glass in the world?"

"You _did_?" gasped Chopper.

"Besides, I'm only making these to take back to the base later – for reference for my fellow crusaders of justice."

Robin came over and examined the figures as well, smiling at the amount of effort put into them.

"These are wonderful, Usopp," she said. "But I'm curious: How do you know what Sogeking looks like? Only his face is shown on the bounty posters at the Marine base, correct?"

"Well, I just figured that he'd look really cool," said Usopp, picking up the Sogeking figure and turning it over. The figure had the mask and the red cape, but also was rather buff and wore skin-tight clothing.

"But where _is_ he?" asked Usopp suspiciously. "I haven't seen him at all, but his poster says that he's part of the Strawhats. Is that your plan? You're going to have him jump out and attack me?"

"Let's just say that he's closer than you think. But don't worry, I doubt that he'll attack you."

"What? He's close?" exclaimed both Chopper and Usopp. They started searching the room from top to bottom.

"You bastard! Get out here!"

"Sogeking! Where are you? Are you here? I wanna see you again! You're so cool!"

Robin giggled.

* * *

**The song playing is Usopp no Hanamichi, or Usopp's Glorious Way. They got the different instruments on the Dial by recording each on its own Dial, playing them all at the same time, and recording ****_that_**** on another Dial. It seems that Brook picked up several Tone Dials during his tour ^^**


	9. Their Biggest Fear! Tears And Disbelief!

"Guuuuuys! Zoro! Nami! Sanji! Franky! Brook!" Luffy called. They had gotten separated at some point, despite Nami's hand-holding tactic, and he had somehow found himself on a completely deserted grassy island.

Sensing something behind him, Luffy turned around and saw Zoro. Zoro looked more fierce than usual, but Luffy paid no mind. Grinning, he said "Zoro! There you are! Hey, how'd we get here? Where's everyone else? What—"

"Just stop talking," spat Zoro suddenly. Luffy stopped in surprise. "I can't believe that I ever agreed to have you as my captain. You're so pathetic, wandering around like this, yelling for your so-called _friends_."

"Zoro…?"

"Stay away from me, you worthless excuse for a captain." Zoro turned and walked away. Luffy didn't have time to say anything before he noticed Nami on his left.

"Nami!" he exclaimed. "You're here! Listen, Zoro's acting really weird! Do you know what—?"

"_Thunderbolt Tempo_!" she exclaimed suddenly, pulling out her Clima Takt. A dark cloud popped out of the end and electrocuted Luffy. He was, of course, unharmed, being made of rubber.

"Nami…?"

"Hm." She stowed away the Clima Takt. "I forgot electricity doesn't hurt you. Pity."

"Nami, what—"

"I don't know _what_ made me decide to join you!" she yelled. "You're so weak! You couldn't even handle Ace's death when it happened, could you!?"

Luffy gasped. It felt as though an arrow had pierced his chest. "Nami…"

"Zoro went that way, right? I'll go join him. Maybe _he'll_ be a good captain." She strode off without looking back.

"Nami!" yelled Luffy in despair.

"Oi, what're you doing?"

Turning around, Luffy saw Usopp standing there. He grinned. "Usopp! You gotta help me! Zoro and Nami are—oh, wait… you lost your memory…"

Usopp spat on the ground. "Lost my memory? Not really, Luffy."

"Usopp?"

"Well, I did regain some memory," said Usopp casually, strolling up to Luffy. "I only got enough back to see how _pathetic_ of a captain you are!"

He suddenly kicked Luffy's shin. Luffy rubbed the spot and stared at Usopp. "Usopp… even you…"

"I can't believe that I ever followed you." Usopp turned and walked in the same direction as Zoro and Nami had. Luffy stared after him despondently.

He felt another presence and turned slowly. Sanji and Brook were strolling up, discussing ways to get shots of Nami and Robin's panties.

"Sanji! Brook! Please…" Luffy said. Both turned. Sanji took out his cigarette and blew some smoke in Luffy's face.

"Please what?" he said coldly. "Please forgive what a weak excuse for a captain you are? I don't think so. You couldn't even handle your brother's death. Brought back bad memories of Sabo's death, didn't it? So WEAK!" He delivered a roundhouse kick to Luffy's back, knocking him to the ground. Luffy stared up at Sanji as the blond mad strode away. He turned to Brook pleadingly, but Brook was heading in the same direction.

"So sorry, Luffy-_san_," he said coolly. "But… you are not the man I once thought you were."

Brook went off in the same direction. Luffy was opening his mouth to shout something when he heard someone say "_Cinco Fleurs_!"

He was immediately grabbed by five hands that had sprouted out of the ground and held down by them. Squirming, he found himself looking up at Robin and Franky. "Robin… Franky!"

"Hah!" Franky walked right by him. "See you never, weakling."

Robin approached him. Luffy looked up, tears welling up in his eyes. "Robin… please…"

"These hands are merely to keep you from running after us," said Robin in an icy voice. "Once we've started moving the ship, that is. We'll be leaving without you, of course. _Sayonara_."

Luffy finally saw the Sunny ground on the beach of the island. How had he not seen the ship before? Robin was climbing up on it. In what seemed like no time, the ship had started sailing with Luffy's friends on it.

"No…" he whispered as the hands disappeared. "No. No. Come back! COME BACK!"

* * *

"Hm… the others are lost again."

Zoro stood on an empty street, looking around. He sighed. "How the hell did I end up here, anyway? Where is this?"

There was a sudden, sharp pain down his back. Gasping, he whirled around, taking out his swords and readying them. A man, a weak-looking man holding a sword, stood there, grinning.

"You…" growled Zoro. "Who are you?"

"Me?" the guy grinned. "I'm the one who's gonna rob you blind."

"Sucks for you, moron, I'm flat broke."

"I guess I'll take those nice swords you got there, then!"

Zoro glared. "Try it, motherfucker."

They leapt at each other and fought. The stranger used the one-sword style against Zoro's three-sword techniques. Zoro knew that he was strong, and yet…

_What is this? I can't fight… I can't fight properly! What's going on!?_

In less than twenty minutes, the man had knocked Zoro's swords out of his hands and mouth and delivered a finishing blow. It shouldn't have even stung, but Zoro collapsed.

"Thanks for the swords, sucker!" yelled the guy, scooping them up and walking off. Zoro stared blankly at the ground.

_I lost. I broke my promise. I lost to a weakling. How? _Scars on the back are a swordsman's shame.

* * *

"Oi, Luffy! Zoro! Sanji-_kun_!" Nami sighed. "Geez… where could they have gotten to? I give them _one simple task_ and…" she looked around. "Wait… where…?"

"Isn't it obvious?" said a cold, all-too-familiar voice behind her. She froze, goose bumps dotting her neck.

"You're on your ship, of course. But I suppose that's not right… seeing as it's _my_ ship now!"

"Who…?" she whispered, already knowing the answer. She noticed now that she was in her room on the Sunny, but it seemed more… cold. Foreboding. Unwelcome.

"You may have betrayed us before, Nami, but I'm sure you'll be more loyal this time around – now that your friends are dead! _Sha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha_!"

Whipping around, she yelled "What was that, Arlong?"

The fishman sat casually in a chair, looking exactly like Nami remembered him – cold eyes, sawtooth nose… a cocky grin.

"I _said_," he said slowly, as if speaking to someone mentally retarded, "your friends are _dead_."

"No," she whispered. "You're lying. You're LYING! How are you even here!? I thought you were captured by the Navy!"

"Ha! The Navy… too bad for those humans that I got much stronger in my cell and broke out when one came to bring me extra food. Said he felt sorry for me. Stupid human! I just finished killing your friends, or hadn't you noticed?"

He jerked a webbed finger, pointing out the window. Following it, Nami ran to the window, looked outside, and gasped. She fell to her knees at what she saw.

Luffy. Zoro. Usopp. Sanji-_kun_. Chopper. Robin. Franky. Brook. All lying in pools of blood. All horribly beaten. All dead.

"And in case you haven't realized, my men and I have taken over this ship!" Arlong exclaimed. "You'll be working for me for the rest of your miserable human life, you bitch!"

Nami slowly got to her feet, anger contorting her normally pretty face. She reached for her Clima Takt, but found that it was missing. Instead of using the weapon, she let out a cry of anguish and ran at Arlong with her fists raised. Arlong easily caught her and held her up by her throat.

"Be my navigator, Nami! You're invaluable in our quest for world dominance!"

She struggled in his grip, tears spilling over her eyes.

"_Shaaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha_!"

* * *

Franky looked around, startled. How had he gotten on this island? What was going on? He turned to Luffy, who was standing next to him, and said "Oi, Luffy, what's—"

Luffy didn't say anything, but instead stared ahead. Franky looked around him to find all his friends standing next to him and staring at apparently the same thing. He slowly looked up and gasped.

The Sunny was burning. A raging inferno covered the deck, melted away the weapons and the lion head. The flags were going up in smoke. The Sunny. His ship. His home. Burning away. Going. Going. Gone.

"Sunny…" he whispered, starting to cry. "Sunny! We have to save him!"

He started to run towards the ship, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned to see Zoro grinning while still staring at the burning ship. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"What?"

"That worthless excuse for a ship is finally gone. Now we can _really_ get the best ship – once we've saved up enough money, of course."

"Zoro? What—"

"He's right," said Usopp, nodding in agreement. "Of course, it was the great Captain Usopp's idea in the first place…"

"It's too bad," said Robin, turning away. "You just weren't good enough."

Franky fell to his knees, the blazing ship reflected in his sunglasses.

* * *

"Hm? Where… am I? This place looks familiar… Luffy-_san_? Zoro-_san_? Nami-_san_? Sanji-_san_? Franky-_san_?" Brook rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That's odd…"

He looked around. A lighthouse rose up, away from the edge of the cape, which – which had a twin on the opposite side of a channel that went up a mountain. Brook's jaw bone dropped to the ground.

"The Twin Capes…" he whispered. He took a deep breath. "Laboon! Laboon, it's me! I've come back! I don't know how, when, or why, but I'm here!"

The whale surfaced, looking exactly as he had when he was first left behind. He looked at Brook and chirped.

"Laboon…" Brook held out his arms. "It's me! Your old friend! I'm sorry I've taken so long – do you recognize me?"

Laboon stared at Brook, tilted his head, and dove underwater again.

"Laboon!" Brook yelled. "I know I look different, but you must recognize this afro on my head!" he reached up to check his afro, only to have his fingers meet air.

"My afro!" Brook grabbed around his head. "What happened!? My afro's gone!"

He gasped. "That's right… Laboon! Come back up!"

Laboon resurfaced and looked at Brook curiously.

"I'll play the song for you! I'll play Binks' Sake!" he took out his guitar and was about to play when he realized something.

"How… how does it go again?"

He frantically moved his fingers around, plucking different notes to jog his memory, but nothing sounded right. "I… how could I have forgotten it?"

Laboon dove underwater again. He resurfaced a little ways away, and moved away like that, jumping through the waves.

"Laboon! Come back! Come back!"

* * *

Sanji looked around confusedly. "Now how did this happen…? Where the hell am I? Nami-_swan_! Are you near, my love~?" he scratched his head. "I hope she's not hurt… and where are the other guys?"

He noticed for the first time that everything around him seemed to be pink. "Wait… this seems… familiar…"

A voice behind him suddenly spoke, sending chills up his spine. "Sanji-_kun_! You've returned~! Have you accepted your true self and come to embrace it~?"

"It… can't be…"

He turned around to see someone standing there: Long blonde hair. Bright red lipstick. Powerful jaw. Stubble.

His cigarette dropped out of his mouth.

"Oh, Sanji-_kun_, don't act so surprised~! So are you ready to wear this cute dress~?" the _okama_ held up a pink dress patterned with flowers.

"H… HELL NO!" Sanji screamed. He attempted to use Sky Walk to get away, but found that he could not.

"What!?" He gathered himself up and faced the _okama_s. "_Diable jambe_!"

His leg didn't catch fire, and there was absolutely no power behind it when it hit the man-lady. He-she giggled. "Oh, that tickled~!"

"I… can't fight!?"

The _okama_s slowly approached him, the blonde one holding the dress. "Sanji-_kun_… just put it on~! I promise you'll like it~!"

Seeing as he could not fight, Sanji did the only thing he could.

He screamed and ran away.

* * *

**I had a ****_really_**** tough time thinking up a fear for Franky. I almost went with the "he doesn't have any fear" thing.**


	10. Overcoming, Part 1! Zoro And Nami!

Zoro, on his knees, stared ahead of him, his mind turning over and over the events that had occurred.

_I lost… to such a weakling… how… my swords… my worst fear come true…_

_ Worst fear!_ He put a hand to his head. _That's right… that weird thing said something about facing our worst fears! But how… how can I move on?_

He took some deep breaths and tried to calm himself. He stood up and relaxed, thinking over and over: _This isn't real. This isn't real_.

And when he was fully relaxed and calm, something odd happened. He felt the pain in his back go away – feeling it, he found that the wounds had disappeared; there weren't even any scars left. When he looked down at his side, his swords had reappeared. He took them out and experimentally cut down a nearby boulder. He felt good about it, and knew that his proper fighting power had returned.

Something ahead of him suddenly shone bright. He looked over and squinted. Getting a good feeling, he sheathed his swords and headed towards it. The light enveloped him entirely, and he closed his eyes, fearing that he might go blind in his other eye if he continued to look…

He opened his eye when the light faded and looked around. He was in a large room, a large gray room, with lit torches around the walls. An open doorway was on the wall opposite where they had come from. He glanced at it, and then looked behind him. His eye widened.

On the floor was a white line, splitting up the room so that there was about five feet from it to the open doorway where Zoro was. Behind the line were a large space and a doorway that was closed off by a chunk of cement. In that large space…

Luffy was near the left side of the wall, on his hands and knees, crying while sobbing "No… no…" Nami was crying as well, looking as if she was sitting in a chair and writing something while someone pushed her head down. Sanji was running around the entire area, screaming, which was scary and, in a twisted way, funny. Franky had dropped to his knees, covering up his face while tears leaked from underneath his sunglasses. Brook was reaching out to something while calling out hoarsely "Laboon… Laboon, come back! Laboon!"

_Of course. They must be facing the illusion of their worst fear…_

He strode up to his captain and grabbed him by the shoulders, lifting him up to face him. Luffy's tear-streaked face looked dully back.

"Oi, Luffy! Get up already! We've got a turnip to find, remember!?"

Luffy whispered "Why…? You didn't have to come back… Zoro… you could have left me here…"

"I'm not leaving you here, idiot!"

"You already hurt me." Luffy stared at Zoro. "Why do you have to make my hurt bigger?"

Zoro stared at him and let go of his shoulders. Luffy dropped back on his hands and knees. He went over to Nami next, lifting up her head – seeing as it looked like nothing was pushing it.

"Nami. Pull yourself together. We've got to get going!"

She looked up, fresh tears spilling out of her eyes. "You can stop reminding me, you know. I'm doing it already! I know my friends are d-d-dead—" she sobbed. "Just kill me too!"

"Kill you?" Zoro stared at her as she looked up at him, before she rubbed at her eyes and turned them back downwards.

He left her and managed to catch Sanji as he ran around the room. "Shit-cook, what the hell are you doing? We need to help Usopp!"

Sanji screamed and struggled in his grip. "L-let go of me, you shitty freak of nature!" he looked behind him and screamed again. "_No_! Let go, damn it! No way in hell you're getting me into that thing!"

Zoro's grip loosened, and Sanji made a break for it. He continued to run around the room, fleeing from his invisible pursuers.

Results were similar with Franky and Brook. Zoro didn't manage to get a relevant response out of either of them. Eventually, he decided to sit outside of the white line (for he realized that stepping inside it would make him part of the hallucinations), wait for the others to come to their senses, and have a bottle of booze in the meantime.

* * *

Nami carefully drew the perimeter of the island on the map-in-progress, carefully keeping her hand as steady as possible. She remembered the price to pay for screwing up even the smallest detail. Arlong sat in a chair across the room, gulping down a drink of some sort while keeping an eye on her.

_No… how? How did this happen? They _couldn't_ have lost to Arlong! They just couldn't have! I know… I know I could beat him! If I only had my Clima Takt… I could beat this bastard and escape!_

Something caught her eye and she looked up. She gasped. There, in the open shelves of the desk, were the three pieces of the Sorcery Clima Takt.

Getting an idea, she knocked over the ink bottle, letting the contents spill onto the desk and floor. Arlong glared at her. She gasped in fake surprise. "Sorry! I'll get a fresh one!"

He eyed her before muttering something about a punishment later. She snuck her hand into the shelves, reaching for the pieces of the Clima Takt.

_Yes!_

She deftly flipped up the pieces and snapped them together. Arlong stood up. "What the–?"

"_Mirage Tempo – Fata Morgana!_" She jumped out of her chair and spun the Clima Takt and several copies of herself appeared – some normal-sized, some large and fat, some tiny. Arlong scowled and slashed away one of them, only to have it dissolve beneath his webbed fingers.

"Hm…?"

Nami waited, invisible, until Arlong had slashed away all of the copies. She then deftly created thunderclouds above his head and made herself visible. He whipped around at the shimmering sound and snarled.

"You _bitch_," he growled. "Just wait until I get my hands on you!"

She nodded at the clouds. "You won't be getting your filthy hands on anything, Arlong! Professor Nami predicts that severe thunderstorms in your immediate area will strike an ugly purple fishman within the next five seconds!"

"Eh?" he looked up and his eyes widened. Lightning came down from the clouds, searing his skin, making him scream and twitch. Eventually, he fell to the ground, unmoving. Nami cautiously approached him and poked him with the Takt. He didn't move.

She sighed. Tears of happiness spilled from her eyes again as she relaxed. Free of the threat. Her worst fear vanquished. Now all she had to do was escape.

"Ooh, good job, Nami!"

She jumped and turned around. Luffy had his hands on his hips and was staring down at the unmoving form of Arlong. The rest of the crew was there, too – alive and well.

"Guys…? How?" she whispered. "I thought that Arlong…"

Usopp frowned and felt himself. "Well… I thought so too! But then I woke up, and…" he shrugged.

"Guys… you're alive…"

Luffy laughed. "Of course we're alive! It's okay, Nami!"

She wiped some tears from her eyes and looked behind the crew. There was a bright light… or something. She approached it slowly, glancing at her friends, all of whom nodded encouragingly. She took a breath and stepped into the light. It covered her and she shut her eyes…

…only to open them and see Zoro sitting against a wall, gulping down a bottle of _sake_.

"Zoro!" she exclaimed. "Zoro, what—weren't you just back—" she looked behind her and gasped. "What—"

"Hey, Nami," he said, setting down the bottle. "Glad to see you got out of that. Here, sit down. I'll explain what's happening."

* * *

"That makes sense, I guess…" she said once he'd finished. Noticing that Brook was crying "Laboon!", she said "Um, say, could you hear what I was saying?"

"…yeah. I kind of guessed what was happening."

"Oh." She looked away and sat down next to him. "Could you not mention it to the others…?"

"Yeah, no problem."

"Thank you."


	11. Overcoming, Part 2! The Rest Join Them!

Eventually, Luffy and Franky joined Zoro and Nami. After Luffy had desperately asked whether Zoro and Nami were real, and Franky had loudly denied shedding any tears, they settled down and tried to avoid looking at Brook and Sanji.

* * *

"Laboon…" whispered Brook. "Laboon…"

He had all but given up hope that Laboon would return. On his knees, he began to wonder whether or not there was a point to living.

_A point to living… I suppose that if Luffy-_san_ were here, he'd say—_

"Of course there's a point to living! Just because you couldn't realize your dream, it doesn't mean that there's no point! The point is to just live!"

Brook looked up and saw Luffy sitting on a rock, grinning. "Luffy-_san_…?"

"Oh yeah," said Luffy, "you can't remember the song, right? Here, I'll help!"

He took a deep breath and began to sing, loudly and slightly off-key:

"_Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho! Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho!_"

Usopp came up and joined him. "_Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho! Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho!_"

"_Binkusu no sake wo_," sang Zoro, "_todoke ni yuku yo_… _umikaze kimakase namimakase_!"

Sanji joined them. "_Shio no mukuo de, yuuhi mo sawagu…_"

"_Sora nya_," chimed in Chopper from around Brook's ankles, "_wa wo kaku tori no uta!_"

Robin walked up from behind Luffy. "_Sayonara minato, tsumugi no sato yo…_"

"_DON to icchou utao, funade no uta!_" Franky had a big grin on his face.

"_Kinpa-ginpa mo_," sang Nami, "_shibuki ni kaete_…"

"…_Oretacha yuku zo, umi no kagiri!_" Brook picked up his old violin and began to play, the notes and lyrics flooding back to him.

"_Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo,_" he sang with the rest of the Strawhats, "_Warera kaizoku, umi watteku! Nami wo makura ni, negura wa fune yo… ho ni hata ni ketateru wa dokuro!_"

As he sang, he thought he saw something… something black and curved, jumping towards them…

"_Arashi ga kita zo, senri no sora ni…_"

The black thing continued approaching.

"_Nami ga odoru yo, DORAMU narase…_"

Laboon finally reached them and had started chirping in time with the song.

"_Okubyoukaze ni, fukarerya saigo… Asu no, asahi ga nai ja nashi!_"

Setting down the violin, Brook knelt and stroked Laboon. "Laboon… it's me! I know that I look different, but you recognize me, don't you?"

Laboon chirped happily and nuzzled Brook's skeletal hand like a dog. Brook laughed and stroked him again. Noticing something, he looked over and saw a bright light not too far away on the sea.

"Go on, then, Brook!" Luffy encouraged. "Laboon'll be right here!"

Laboon chirped in agreement.

Brook nodded, jumped off the cliff, and ran on the water towards the light. He entered the strange disk and murmured "Oh dear, this light will burn away my eyes! Ah, but… I have no eyes! Yo-ho-ho-ho—"

The light got brighter. Brook covered his eye sockets. When the light faded, he uncovered them and looked around, finding himself in the large room that he suddenly remembered entering. He also noticed Zoro, Nami, Luffy, and Franky sitting against the opposite wall. Zoro was gulping down some booze (and judging by the empty bottles, he was on his fifth) while the others lolled around, quietly chatting. They looked up when Brook had moved past the white line on the ground and grinned.

"Hey, Brook!" yelled Luffy. "How's it going?"

"Luffy-_san_…?" he looked behind him, ahead again, and nodded. "Ah. I see…"

He approached the group. "Nami-_san_… I have something very important to ask you…"

"No, you may not see my panties," said Nami. Brook sighed.

"You must be psychic…" he sat down with the others. "Does anyone have any idea what's happening to Sanji-_san_?"

"Well, you know, he's going through his worst fear…" said Franky.

"Yes, but what is it, exactly? He seems to be having trouble…" he noted as Sanji ran close to them, stumbled, and tripped. He backed up, crawled sideways, got up, and continued running.

"Dunno," said Zoro, setting down his empty bottle. "Me and Luffy tried talking to him, but we didn't know what he was going on about."

"I'll give it a shot," said Nami, standing up. "He might see through it and recognize me."

"Ooh! Good thinking, Nami!" said Franky. Nami stepped over the white line and stopped Sanji in his tracks with two hands.

"Alright, Sanji-_kun_, get a grip!" she exclaimed, holding him up by his shirt. He yelled out and struggled in her hold.

"Shitty freak of nature!" he yelled. "I will _not_! It's an insult to my manhood!"

"Cut this crap about manhood and get over it!" yelled Nami, raising a fist. Sanji flinched.

"No… NO! LET GO! I'M NOT PUTTING THAT ON! NOT AGAIN! NEVER AGAIN!" he squirmed around. He looked to either side of Nami and his mouth dropped open.

"NO! No…" he whispered. "Please… not again! Anything but that! I swear I'll do anything you want except _that_!"

Nami loosened her grip and he dropped to the ground. Coughing, he rose shakily and said "You agree, right? I'll do whatever you want except that?"

He waited, apparently listening to his invisible attacker. Then he straightened up, yelled "NO WAY IN THIS HELL!" and proceeded to run again.

Nami stepped out of the line. She faced the rest of the group and shrugged. "I guess he didn't." She sat down and they decided to wait it out.

* * *

_One hour later_

"This is getting _ridiculous_!" yelled Zoro. Sanji was still running, but more slowly and stumbling, due to the fact that he'd been running almost nonstop for the past hour.

"I have an idea," said Luffy, standing up. He stepped over the white line, stopped the running Sanji with one hand, and held him down. Sanji looked up at his captain with exhaustion in his eyes – exhaustion and near-defeat.

"Sanji!" said Luffy. He took a deep breath.

"Sorry about this!" he aimed a fist at Sanji's head and punched him, successfully knocking out the cook. He slung him over his shoulder like a sack of grain and carried him over the line.

"…why didn't we do that earlier?" said Nami, standing up and wincing due to a slight cramp in her legs from sitting too long.

"Here, Luffy, I got him," offered Franky. Luffy handed off the unconscious Sanji to the cyborg and the group headed through the open way.

* * *

About ten minutes of heading down the dark passage later, Sanji suddenly spoke up. "Put me down, shitty cyborg. I can walk, you know."

"Hey, Sanji! Back with the living?" Franky set him down. Sanji brushed off his suit, seeing as it was a bit dirty from falling often in the larger room.

"So… how did I end up here, exactly?" he asked. "And why does my head hurt?"

"It didn't look like you were going to snap out of it anytime soon, so Luffy knocked you out," explained Nami. Even in the dim light, Sanji could make out Nami.

"NAMI-_SWAN_! Ah, if only I were knocked out by your fist of love rather than our captain's rubber one!" he swooned. Nami sighed.

"Quiet. Luffy and maybe Zoro are the only ones strong enough to knock you out. Oh, wait, Franky too."

"Well…" Sanji scratched his head. "Thanks, I guess, Luffy. So that was the worst fear thing, huh? I appreciate you getting me away from those freaks."

"Sure, _now_ he's all calm and composed," muttered Zoro. "If I remember correctly, you were begging 'I'll do anything, anything you want!'"

"SHUT THE HELL UP, SHITTY _MARIMO_!"

"WHAT WAS THAT, ERO-COOK!?"


	12. Accidental Exit! A Mystery Person?

"Anyway," said Franky at some point, "that was just the first obstacle, right? The second if you count the pure of heart thing, but still… there're probably more on the way, so it seems like whoever set up this thing really didn't want the turnip or turnips to be found."

"Well, that guy – Arthur – did say that those turnips were considered a treasure," Nami reasoned. "It's natural that they would want to protect them. But you're right; I think that a simple lock and key would have sufficed, and maybe a password as well. There was no need to go to all this trouble."

"Perhaps…" said Brook. "Perhaps the turnip is not the only thing they are protecting with these obstacles. It may be that there are gold and jewels hidden with the turnips."

"Gold and jewels~!" squealed Nami. "Now _that's_ worth stealing!"

"So it's not worth stealing a rare amnesia-curing turnip?" asked Zoro skeptically.

"If you have enough money," replied Nami, "you could easily get one off the black market."

"I was thinking…" said Sanji after another minute, "that obstacle… facing your worst fear… it's a good obstacle to have, sure enough. I imagine many people would turn back after facing their worst fear. And it's interesting how it works – how it knows what you fear most, and knows how you would overcome it in that situation."

"Well, that _is_ a bit weird," agreed Franky. "Kind of creepy, too."

"But there is a flaw," continued Sanji, blowing out a puff of smoke. "I couldn't escape my worst fear after a long time, right? So Luffy knocked me out and dragged me away. That is what happened, correct?"

"Yes," said Zoro. "And frankly, you looked ridiculous."

"Shut your damn mouth before I kick it shut," snarled Sanji. "My point is, if someone could escape that by being knocked unconscious by an ally and moved to the next part of this dungeon, why didn't they think of that when creating this place and place some kind of precaution to prevent it?"

"Hm… you make a good point, Sanji-_san_…" said Brook thoughtfully. "But of course, it is that overlooked loophole that allowed you to escape, you know."

"I know. I'm not saying that I'm not relieved it's there. My point is that maybe these people weren't so great at making obstacles after all."

"Maybe they did think of that," said Nami, "but assumed that anybody after the turnip would either be by themselves or so greedy that they'd leave their ally behind and get the treasure alone."

"And as usual, my Nami-_swan_ is so smart~!"

"Good point, Nami," said Franky. "What do you think, Luffy?"

"Don't bother asking him," said Zoro quickly. "He'd just say something about meat."

"Yeah, I guess so," said Franky.

"Come to think of it…" said Brook, "Luffy-_san_, I don't think I've ever heard you being so quiet on walks such as these."

"That's right, Luffy," said Nami. "In fact, I'm surprised you haven't asked how much farther we have to go. Are you feeling okay?"

"Wait! Stop!" said Zoro suddenly. Everyone stopped. They waited.

"Luffy?" asked Zoro. "If you're there, say something."

There was about five seconds of silence. Then—

"Wh-Where's Luffy!?"

"Luffy-_san _has disappeared!"

"Dammit, we can't take our eyes off him for a second."

"Hold on, I'll use my search lights," said Franky. He turned on his Nipple Lights and spun around this way and that, looking up and down the passageway, which was wide enough to allow three normal-sized people to walk side-by-side. After a bit, he confirmed that Luffy was indeed not present.

"Want to see who can find him first, kinky cook?" asked Zoro. Sanji nodded.

"You're on!"

They closed their eyes and concentrated. After a minute, they opened them and said at the same time, pointing the way they came, "He's that way."

They glared at each other. The group started back down the way they had come. It was about five minutes of walking later when Sanji and Zoro said at the same time "Stop!"

They glared at each other again. The group stopped and looked around. Franky turned on his lights again and scanned the passageway, once again confirming that Luffy was not there.

Zoro turned and looked at a wall. "Unless I'm mistaken… he's behind this wall."

"Seems that way," agreed Sanji.

"Behind the wall?" asked Nami skeptically. She approached it and reached out a hand. "How could he even be—"

When her hand made contact with the wall, without a sound, she was quickly sucked into it like water into a sponge. Everyone stared at the wall.

"NAMI-_SWAN_!"

"Nami-_san_!"

"Nami!"

"Nami, can you hear us!?"

No response. The others quickly formulated a plan: Zoro would reach into the wall to grab Nami and hopefully Luffy while the others held onto him to make sure that he wasn't sucked in as well.

"Okay, on three…" he said with the others clutching his torso. "One… two… three!"

He plunged his hand into the wall and was immediately pulled in by an incredibly strong force. The others pulled him back with much effort.

"Someone grabbed my hand!" he yelled. Pause. "Another hand! I think it's Luffy and Nami!"

"One!" yelled Franky.

"Two~!" cried Brook.

"Three!" exclaimed Sanji.

They yanked Zoro out from the carnivorous wall, bringing Nami and Luffy, who had indeed grabbed onto Zoro's arm, with him. Everyone ended up on the ground. They eventually stood up. Nami and Luffy dusted themselves off.

"Ah… that was scary! Thanks, Zoro!" Luffy grinned.

"What the hell was _that_?" growled Nami, glaring at the innocent-looking wall.

"Nami-_swan_~! I'm so glad you're okay~!"

"Okay, hold on," said Franky. "First off, Luffy, how'd you end up in there?"

"Well…" said Luffy. "I was getting bored, so I touched the wall to see what it felt like, and it sucked me in. I tried yelling for you guys, but no one answered. So I decided to look around… and then later, Nami came in, too! She was kind of scared, but I was happy to see her! And then another hand reached in, so Nami and me grabbed it, and it was Zoro's hand and we got out!"

"It was really dark and scary in there," said Nami with a shiver. "Thanks for getting us out."

"Oh yeah, Brook," added Luffy, "I saw a lot of you's in there."

"I see…" Brook cautiously approached the wall, being careful not to touch it. "This wall sucks people in, and they cannot get out again. What a clever trap."

"Got it," said Sanji. "No touching the walls."

They continued on down the passageway, now wary of the walls on either side of them.

* * *

"Hold on," said Nami. "I think we're in a room now."

Franky turned on his lights again and scanned the room. It was almost identical to the room that they'd encountered before reaching the Fear Chamber, except that this time the torches were lit and there was no other way out. It wasn't just that, but a bright red lever – in the upright position – stuck out on the left wall as well.

Franky noticed something and bent to examine the ground. He swiped a finger across it and examined it. "Hm… hey, guys, take a look at—"

"Hey, look at this," said Zoro, ignoring Franky. He gestured to an inscription on the wall. "There's another thing here."

They crowded around him. Indeed, there were more words on the wall.

_If you wish to continue searching_

_ Pull the lever on the wall_

_ But be warned, by doing this_

_ You will take an opposite fall_

"Pulling the lever, huh?" muttered Zoro. He turned. "So who'll pull it why did I even ask?"

Luffy was already running to the lever. He slipped a bit on the wet ground, stumbled, caught his balance, and reached it. He pulled it down with ease. They waited.

"So… what happens now?" asked Nami. Her question was answered immediately: The ceiling opened up, revealing open air (and a rainy sky, of course) above them; the ground split apart to reveal a giant fan underneath it, which started blowing air very hard upwards; and the six members of the Strawhat crew were blown out of the chamber. The last thing they saw was the fan stopping, the floor closing back up, and the ceiling – the ground, now – shutting. They fell a short distance from where they'd been blown out. Sitting up and rubbing their heads, they noticed a squat rock in the center of the circle they'd formed upon landing. Crowding around it, they saw the fourth inscription:

_ Congrats!_

_ You've passed part one of challenges._

_ To find part two, you must_

_ Search the cobbler's_

_ Cellar._

"What is this, a game?" growled Zoro as the squat rock bearing the inscription sank into the ground and disappeared.

"The cobbler, huh?" Nami stood up. "I'm guessing that's in the city. It seems to be getting dark, anyway – maybe we could rest for the night and check it out tomorrow?"

"You're so right, Nami-_swan_," said Sanji, rising from his kneeling position. And so in the heavy rain, they headed towards the city, which was just a pinprick in the distance.

* * *

Robin and Chopper were becoming concerned about the others' welfare when they heard a knock on the door. Chopper answered it, having to jump to reach the doorknob. When he got it open, he found the six members of the crew waiting outside, now only lightly soaked – thanks to the large jet of air that had blown at them at the entrance of the building, much like the one that had blown at the café.

"Guys!" said Chopper, dancing a bit. "Y-You're okay! I wasn't concerned about you one bit, you bastards~!"

"Hi, Chopper, Robin," said Nami, stepping into the room. "Hey, this is a pretty nice room."

"Welcome back," said Robin with a smile. "Usopp fell asleep – apparently he's either worn out from today or  
simply very bored." She pointed to Usopp, who was on his side on the couch, snoring.

"How'd it go?" asked Chopper excitedly as the others stepped in, squeezing and shaking what little water was left out and off of them. "Did you find anything?"

"Hm… I'll sum it up for you," said Zoro, sitting in the chair. "Luffy has a pure heart, the kinky cook is a wimp, walls can be carnivorous, and we need to find a cobbler."

"What!?" exclaimed Chopper in confusion. Robin giggled.

"What kind of cobbler do we need, anyway?" asked Luffy. "There's peach cobbler, meat cobbler, blueberry cobbler, meat cobbler…"

"I don't think it meant that kind of cobbler, Luffy-_san_," said Brook. "In this case, a _cobbler_ is a shoemaker."

"Oh, okay."

Sanji went into the small kitchen and was about to start on dinner when he realized that there was no food. "Of course," he muttered. Poking his head back out, he said "Does anyone mind going out for dinner tonight? There wouldn't be enough time to make something if we went out shopping."

"Yay! Restaurant!" Luffy yelled. Usopp sat up, rubbing his eyes. He looked around.

"Huh?" he mumbled. "Restaurant?"

"Yo, Usopp!" said Franky, waving. "Yeah, we're going out to eat."

Usopp was immediately on guard. "You all are back?"

"Yes. We didn't find any turnips, but we know where to look next," said Nami. "And speaking of which, we should draw straws again to see who guards Usopp tomorrow."

The six who had journeyed earlier drew the straws, finding out that Luffy and Brook would stay and guard Usopp this time. Luffy complained about not getting to go on another adventure, while Brook seemed pleased to be staying with Usopp.

"Perhaps you will not be so scared of me if we spend more time together, Usopp-_san_," said Brook, leaning in to Usopp, who backed up nervously.

* * *

At the restaurant, the six explained – taking it in turns – in more detail what had happened that day. Franky was strangely quiet throughout the explanation, and Robin did not fail to notice this.

"Franky?" she asked. "Is everything all right?"

He looked up. "Well… I've been thinking… I might be wrong, but I think there's someone else looking for the treasure – someone else that got ahead of us."

"Why do you say that?" asked Sanji.

"See, when we entered that last room, the one with the giant fan, the torches were lit, right?"

"True…" said Zoro, gulping down some _sake_. "So?"

"Someone must have lit them up before we came, right? Otherwise they would have burned out from lack of oxygen."

"Good thinking…" said Nami. "But the torches in the first room, the one with the _haiku_ on the wall, weren't lit, remember? Sanji-_kun_ had to use his lighter."

"What I'm thinking is that the person didn't bother to light the torches because they didn't see them. They had a flashlight or something of the sort, and only read the inscription. When they reached that _last_ room, though, they saw the torches while looking for the lever and decided to light them."

"You're sure it's another person?" asked Sanji skeptically.

"Positive. It's not just the torches – in the last room, the ground was wet. Luffy slipped on it, remember? The only way the ground could have gotten wet is if the ceiling had been recently opened up, letting the rain in."

Nami nodded. "That makes sense… but Zoro and Sanji-_kun_ used Haki to find Luffy, remember? How come they didn't sense the other person, or people?"

"Perhaps, by that point, they were too far ahead to be found within that range," said Robin calmly.

"So, in other words, we have to watch out for a mystery person," said Luffy, swallowing the last of his dinner.

"…well… yes," said Nami. "But if that bastard touches any of _my_ treasure, he's not gonna live to see tomorrow!"

"…why are pirates so scary?" whispered Usopp.


	13. It Doesn't Exist? Enter The Cellar!

"Pleeeeease can I come?" begged Luffy as Franky, Robin, Chopper, Sanji, Zoro, and Nami prepared to leave. "I wanna go on another adventure! Staying here is boring!"

"If we don't find anything today, you get to come tomorrow!" said Nami. "Now quit complaining!"

Luffy pouted and sat on the couch. The six walked out the door, reminding everyone in the room not to break anything.

* * *

The six had combed the entire city and had found no cobbler – there were shoe stores, but no place that actually made shoes. Nami groaned.

"What now? We can't find a cobbler, at least of the shoe-making variety, so we can't get to the treasure!"

"And the turnip," reminded Zoro.

"Sure, that too, whatever. Robin, do you have any ideas?"

Robin put a hand to her chin. "I wonder… just how old was the writing you found?"

Franky's eyes widened. "Whoa, good thinking! So maybe that cobbler place doesn't even exist anymore!"

"That's just great," muttered Sanji. "What are we going to do now?"

"The cobbler's place may be gone, but if it was renovated for a new establishment, whatever we're searching for may still be there."

"So we should just ask around?" asked Chopper for confirmation. Robin nodded.

They went around to everywhere from the hotel they were staying in to the café they'd visited on the first day to ask if the building had always been for that purpose. The first ten or so that they checked were new and thus for the current purpose, or old but had never been used for a cobbler's shop.

Upon reaching the next building, Robin stopped and placed a hand on the side. "This paint is new, and the building style at least fifty years old. This may be the place."

They entered the store (a boutique) and were immediately approached by an employee.

"Welcome! Welcome!" he said cheerfully. "How may I help you today?" he looked at Sanji. "Would the young man like a new suit? Or perhaps—" he turned to Nami and Robin. "—the ladies want some skirts, cute shirts, jeans, shorts, dresses? We have them all right here at Shiki's Clothing~!"

"We're not here to buy anything," said Zoro bluntly. "We were wondering if this place was always a clothing store or if something else was here before it."

The employee – most likely also the manager, judging by the fact that there were no others in the store – blinked. "Eh? You mean if something was replaced by this store?"

"Yeah. You know anything?" asked Franky.

"Hm…" he pursed his lips and rubbed his smooth chin. "The former manager _did_ once mention that this place used to be a shoemaker's shop, but—"

"Yay!" cried Chopper. "This must be the right place!"

The manager looked down. "A… talking raccoon?"

"I'm a reindeer!"

"Manager-_san_," said Robin before a fight could break out, "is there anything unusual in your store that was here from the previous establishment?"

"Anything unusual…" he glanced towards the back. "There is a cellar in the back, but I cannot seem to open it. Is that what you mean?"

"Yeah, that's it," affirmed Sanji. "Mind if we take a look?"

"I don't see why not… if you can get it open, feel free to explore it! But may I ask why you're interested in this place?" He frowned.

"We're going on a kind of treasure hunt," explained Zoro. "The last clue led us here."

"Treasure!?" the manager's eyes widened and he began to drool a bit, thinking of piles of gold, silver, jewels… he shook his head and eyed them. "You know, this _is_ my store. And if you happen to find this treasure you speak of, don't you think that—"

"Of course, of course!" exclaimed Nami, smiling and waving a hand as if to say "Don't be silly." "If we find anything worth any money, you'll get half of whatever it is!"

The manager's eyes turned into beri signs, not unlike Nami's often did. "Thank you very much! The cellar door is right through this back room here…"

"Oh, by the way," added Sanji as they stepped through the door, "no one else has come by asking the same thing, right?"

"Eh? No…"

"Good. If someone does come, don't tell them we were here, okay? If you do, you might not get your part of the treasure."

"Of course! You have my word!" he waved them through the door.

The others stared at Nami as they went down the staircase and approached the steel cellar door. "Um, Nami," said Franky, "are you feeling okay?"

"Hm? Yes, why?"

"…you offered that guy half of whatever we find," pointed out Zoro. Nami laughed.

"What, you thought I was being serious? He's not getting anything!"

"I like this side of Nami-_swan _too~!"

"Good, she's normal…" said Chopper with a sigh of relief. "Thank God…"

* * *

_Somewhere on Skypiea_

Gan Fall looked down from his cloud-chair. "You're welcome!" he called.

* * *

_Back at Rain City_

"No problem," replied Robin calmly as they reached the door.

"Huh?"

"Nothing," she said, smiling.

"Hm…" Franky studied the door. "Solid steel, looks like, no keyholes or anything, or any number pad."

"Wait, there's something on the side here!" said Chopper excitedly. Everyone crowded around.

_To enter the riddling chamber of clues_

_ Answer this question_

_ Or be forever stuck:_

_ What can run but never walk_

_ Has a mouth but cannot talk_

_ Has a head but cannot weep_

_Has a bed but cannot sleep?_

"So we have to answer this riddle to move on?" muttered Franky. "Great. Anyone got any ideas?"

They all looked at Robin.

"Well…" she put a finger to her chin. "The first line… to say that something can 'run', but not 'walk', could mean that we say it is running, but we never say it is walking."

"Eh?" Chopper tilted his head.

"For example… say that there is a clock. If it is working, we would say that it is _running_. However, you would never say that a clock is _walking_."

There were murmurs of agreement and understanding.

"So is 'clock' the answer?" asked Nami hopefully.

"I don't think so," said Zoro. "It fits the first line, but not the other three."

"True…"

"As for the second line," she continued, "it's the same idea. We might say the 'mouth' of the cave. The third line is again the same thing – a riverbed, possibly. And the fourth line is again most likely referring to an inanimate object."

"Hm… so what's the answer?"

"We know that clock isn't the answer," she said, ticking it off on her fingers. "Now we have cave or a river right now."

"A river…" Chopper thought. "Don't we sometimes say the 'mouth' of the river?"

"And of course, there's the 'riverbed' that you mentioned," Zoro pointed out.

"…and there's the 'head' of the river," said Franky. "I think 'river' must be the answer."

"I believe so," agreed Robin. "Chopper, is there anywhere to place the answer?"

"There's a place to write stuff right here!" he pointed beneath the words. Franky pulled out a pencil and handed it to Robin, who had the neatest writing besides Nami. She wrote _River_ in the small space. The door opened up so suddenly that it knocked Sanji and Zoro flying. Rubbing their heads, they rose and followed everyone else down the stairs revealed by the opening.

The doors shut behind them.

* * *

**Back in 2006, ****_Van Von Hunter_**** ran a six-month serial edition in the Sunday comics of about 30 American newspapers. This was one of the first mangas I read, and I enjoyed it very much. In the story, he was going after a vampire while travelling with a girl. To pass a bridge, he had to answer this riddle given by the guard:**

**What can run but never walk,  
Has a mouth but cannot talk,  
Has a head but cannot weep,  
Has a bed but cannot sleep?**

**He thought about it and then chopped off the guard's head, saying that it was too hard. The girl yelled the answer to him, and he basically said "Whatever."**

**It was quite funny. He later found out that vampires say "Blah!" and can be destroyed by moonlight, which is reflected sunlight.**


	14. The Second Trio! Usopp's Realization!

While the others were descending into the cellar, Luffy was sprawled on the floor, complaining "I'm boooooored! Why couldn't I go on the adventure?"

"Had we some cards," said Brook, sitting down next to Usopp, who wriggled away from him, "we could play a game. Would that be fine, Luffy-_san_, Usopp-_san_?"

"Ah, I don't think there're any cards in here," said Usopp nervously. "I looked for some yesterday."

"That's so boring…" Luffy sighed. "No cards… no card games…"

"H-Hey," said Usopp, looking at Brook out of the corner of his eyes. "Why – how are you even alive? Skeletons don't normally come to life, do they?"

"Ah," said Brook mysteriously. "That is a story I must save for another day…"

"So you're not going to tell me right now?"

"Brook, come on!" said Luffy, sitting up. "Tell him! I wanna hear it again too!"

"Eh, well, if you insist. Yo-ho-ho-ho-ho!" he cleared his non-existent throat. "You see, Usopp-_san_, when I was alive, I ate a certain devil fruit… it is known as the Revive-Revive Fruit~! It allowed me to come back to life when I had tragically passed away! But by the time I found my body again, I was…" he opened up his shirt. "Nothing but bones! When I came to my body, seeing myself like that sent a chill through my skin… but of course, I have no skin, since I am a skeleton! Yo-ho-ho-ho~!"

"Eh!? A devil fruit? Like Straw Hat?"

"No… well, yes, but not the same fruit, of course."

Luffy laughed, stretching his arm across the room to poke Usopp in the shoulder. "Usopp, come on, I'm bored! Let's play tag or something!"

"Oh, cut it out!" snapped Usopp, batting away Luffy's persistent hand. "I'm not going to play tag with a notorious pirate like you!"

"Spoilsport…" Luffy pouted, letting his arm snap back. "I don't like that you don't remember me!"

"Tch! Even if we _did_ meet at some point before I lost my memory, it would have been as enemies!"

"Muh… we were friends, though," Luffy pouted. "You sure that you don't remember anything at all?"

"Ah, Luffy-_san_, I believe that you've asked him that before…" pointed out Brook. Usopp, however, looked thoughtful.

"Yeah, I'm sure," he said. "But if we _did_ ever meet (as enemies, of course) before, maybe there's something you could tell me."

"Yeah, sure! What is it, what is it?" asked Luffy eagerly, springing up and sitting next to Usopp, thus sandwiching him between himself and Brook.

"Er… you see, when I woke up in the Marine hospital… I said something strange when the lieutenant told me that I'd slept for two days. I said something like 'If he slept for two days, he'd say that he missed ten meals.' I had no idea who I was talking about—it just popped out."

"That, Usopp-_san…_ may have indeed been referring to Luffy-_san_," said Brook with a small laugh. "You may have noticed that food is a hobby of his."

"Brook's right! It must have been me!" said Luffy, bouncing one foot up and down excitedly. "When we were in Alabasta, and I woke up after beating up Crocodile, you said that I slept for three days! So I figured out that I missed fifteen meals!"

"Eh?" said Usopp. "So… that would be ten meals in two days… wait, why are you counting five meals a day!?"

"Five meals a day? Why not? Breakfast, brunch, lunch, lunch-dinner, and dinner."

"Oi…" muttered Usopp. "Well, there's no proof I was talking about you. You might be making things up…"

"Uugh! Jerk…" muttered Luffy.

"Not a jerk," Usopp muttered back. Brook chuckled.

"Dear me, you two are getting along so well! Why don't I play a little song to lift our spirits?" he began to play. Luffy jumped up and cheered, while Usopp attempted to hide his enjoyment of the music.

* * *

"I wonder how everyone else is doing…" sighed Luffy after Brook had finished his song. "They're probably having lots of fun adventures without me…" he moaned dramatically and flopped down on his back. "I'm hungry… can we get some food?"

"I'm not sure that that is wise, Luffy-_san_," said Brook. "What if they come back while we're gone? We would worry everyone very much if that happened!"

"Yeah, but…" he looked up pitifully. "I'm hungry."

"I have a question, Usopp-_san_," said Brook, deciding to ignore Luffy's moans of hunger. "You say that if we ever met before you lost your memory, we would have been enemies, correct?"

"Y-Yeah," muttered Usopp, shifting away from Brook slightly. "What about it?"

"And yet," continued Brook, "you only joined the Marines after you lost your memory, yes?"

"Yeah…?"

"So if you were not a pirate beforehand, as you so claim, you would have most likely been an ordinary citizen. Why would we be your enemies?"

"Because pirates are the enemies of the World Government, the people, and everyone else," he responded promptly. "They stop at nothing to get what they want, whether it is treasure or lives. They will not stop at anything, not an attack from other pirates or even the Marines themselves. Pirates continue to defy the Government until they die."

Brook chuckled. "They certainly pounded that answer into you, Usopp-_san_."

"I want the old Usopp back…" Luffy muttered sulkily.

"Wait…" said Usopp, his expression shifting to one of angry suspicion. "It might have been your crew that took away my memory!"

"Why do you say that, Usopp-_san_?"

"You might have captured me," he said, working out a scenario in his mind. "And you tortured me for information, but since I would never give up any secrets, you hit me over the head, knocking me out and causing me to lose my memory so that I could never tell anyone that you captured me! A-And that's why you have that thing under the deck, the Usopp Factory or whatever, because you made that to keep me occupied so I wouldn't scream for help!"

Luffy looked at him quietly for a long time. So long, in fact, that Usopp began to tremble. "I-I've found out the truth, haven't I? I'm right, right?"

He got up and moved towards Usopp on the couch. Usopp whimpered and dived behind the couch, peeking out at the approaching pirate captain.

Luffy leaned down and dragged Usopp out from behind the couch. He thrust his face into his and the sniper started to quake.

"Usopp," said Luffy seriously. "Do we really seem like the kind of people who would kidnap someone and torture them?"

Usopp looked at Luffy. He looked at Brook. He thought of the rest of the crew. He slowly shook his head.

"Good. Remember that!" he set Usopp back on the couch and smiled suddenly. "Let's go get some food! I don't think this refrigerator has a lock on it like on the Sunny!"

Brook reminded him that they were still out of food and the others would pick some up on their way back. Luffy sighed and immediately lied on the couch and slept.

* * *

**Secret message FTW**


	15. Weird Paintings! Two in Trouble!

"I hate to sound like Luffy, but this is boring," said Nami. "There's no treasure whatsoever, and there's not even anything interesting in this passageway!"

The passageway, which had been blank, gray, and generally nondescript before Nami's words, suddenly turned a bright green color and was filled with paintings hanging on the wall as if to mock her.

"Quit making fun of me!" she yelled at the walls.

Robin examined the plaque beneath the nearest painting on the left. "Hm… 'Noah'," she read aloud.

The painting featured a portrait of a young man with bright brown eyes and lightly tanned skin. His light brown hair was flat and hung to just the back of his neck, and his bangs were swept to one side. He wore a maroon hoodie and dark blue jeans. His nose was slightly crooked in the middle, as though it had been broken at one point. He was smiling and had his hands clenched in front of him, elbows bent downwards, not unlike Luffy when he got excited. His mouth was open in a happy expression, as if he were shouting for joy.

"'Noah'?" muttered Sanji, coming up behind Robin to check the portrait. "Seems like a weird painting to have in this place. I wonder if he was a real person."

"This one is called 'Aki'," called Zoro, examining another portrait directly across from the one that Robin was studying. This one showed a woman, probably in her late twenties or early thirties, with short red hair and olive skin. Her eyes were dark brown, almost black, and were wide and fearful. The position of her hands and feet suggested that she had just turned around. She was wearing blue short-shorts and a green tank top. Her hands bore fingertip-less brown gloves, and her feet bore sandals.

Six other paintings were found along the hallway, three on each side, titled 'Rita', 'Michael', 'Jon', 'Luis', 'Caroline', and 'Sasha' – the titles presumably referring to the subject of the painting.

Further down the hall, twelve more frames (six on each side) hung – but these ones were empty, and the plaques beneath them were blank. Robin examined one, standing off to the side of it.

"Maybe…" she murmured, standing directly in front of the empty frame.

"There's something weird about these paintings…" said Sanji, rubbing his chin. "I can't put my finger on it, though… maybe it's nothing…"

"No, I see it too," agreed Chopper, peering at the one entitled 'Rita'. It showed a young woman with straight black hair, tanned skin, dark eyes, and freckles. She was wearing a tight pink T-shirt and tight pants, and she wore sneakers on her feet. She looked confused, like she was looking at something that she didn't understand.

"I wonder what it could be…" murmured Nami.

"Their eyes."

They turned to look at Zoro, who was looking at the painting of 'Sasha'. It showed a man with thick stubble and dark, short hair. He seemed surprised about something – he looked as if he were backing away. His dark eyes were wide. His shirt was tied around his waist. He wore shorts and his feet were bare.

"Eyes?" asked Franky, lifting up his sunglasses. "What about their eyes?"

"Look carefully," he said. "All of their eyes, even those of the ones that seem happy… they're all terrified."

"He's right!" exclaimed Nami, examining the portrait of 'Noah'. Although his mouth was open in a happy expression, his eyes betrayed his fear.

"Strange…" muttered Sanji. "Is this meant to scare us off? If so, they're not doing a very good job of it – paintings of scared people wouldn't spook anyone."

"It _is_ weird… but maybe there's some other reason for these paintings," said Chopper. He turned around. "Robin, what do you think about – Robin?"

"Robin!" yelled Franky. "Did she go on ahead…?"

"Robin-_chwan_! Come out, my darling!"

Zoro, meanwhile, noticed something odd. He approached the frame that (unbeknownst to him) Robin had been examining just seconds before. His eye widened. He read the plaque beneath the frame, the latter of which now held a subject.

"Oi, guys," he said. "I found her."

They came running to him. "Where, Zoro?" asked Chopper. "Where did Robin go?"

In answer, he lifted a finger and pointed to the plaque.

"Eh…?" said Nami disbelievingly.

The plaque read 'Robin'.

Their eyes snapped up to look at the painting. It was definitely Robin. She was standing and her torso was turned to the left, her mouth open as if about to call someone. Her visible eye, just like the other paintings, showed fear.

"Robin…?" whispered Chopper. "Robin! Can you hear us!? Is that really you!?"

There was no reaction from the painting. "I don't think she can hear us, Chopper…" murmured Franky.

"Gyah! Robin-_chwan_!" Sanji grabbed the frame, but it stuck to the wall. He settled for pressing the side of his face into the canvas. "Robin-_chwan_…" he sobbed. "Your beauty is forever preserved…"

"H-How did this even happen?" said Franky in bewilderment. "We didn't see or hear anything…"

"Maybe…" said Zoro thoughtfully. "Look at how she's standing. It seems like she was about to call us when she got trapped in the painting. If that's the case—" he went to the blank frame opposite Robin's. "Perhaps all she had to do was—" he stood directly in front of the painting and quickly took out a sword, posing as if about to fight someone. "—stand in front of it like this, and—"

The frame, without a sound, opened wide, stretched forward, and seemed to swallow Zoro whole. It closed up again and Zoro was gone. All this took less than two seconds.

"Zoro!" yelled Franky. The swordsman was now in the frame, in the same position that he'd been in when it had swallowed him. His eye showed fear.

"Emergency!" Chopper yelled, running around in circles. "Robin and Zoro got turned into paintings!"

"That idiot…" growled Sanji, peeling his face off Robin's portrait at last. "What was he thinking, posing like that…?"

Nami sighed. "He probably suspected what was going to happen, so he posed for the painting. But at any rate…"

"…how are we going to get Robin-_chwan_ out of the painting?" finished Sanji.

"…and Zoro…" reminded Franky.

"He'll be fine. We can leave him there."

"Sanji!" exclaimed Chopper indignantly.


	16. Freeing Friends! What Waits In The Maze?

Several minutes of examination left them with no doubt that frames didn't have any kind of button, switch, lever, or anything of the sort anywhere. There weren't any on the walls or floor, either. Everyone avoided the place in front of the rest of the empty frames, but other than those places, stepping on various areas did nothing.

"Well, I'm out of ideas," said Nami. "Sanji-_kun_, do you have any—what are you looking at?"

Sanji was gazing up at the ceiling, squinting. "Trying to read the thing that's on the ceiling."

"Eh?"

The rest looked up at the ceiling.

"There does seem to be something written there," muttered Franky. "But it's too high up to—"

Sanji jumped into the air, kicking off his invisible supporters. He hovered for a moment near the small text, reading it. Then he let himself fall back down. "It said 'Destroy your friends, Set them free'."

"A clue?" murmured Nami. "What does it mean, though?"

"Maybe . . ." said Chopper hesitantly. "We have to destroy the paintings?"

The others looked at him.

"It's just . . . it says to destroy our friends, and our friends are in the paintings. So it only makes sense that we would have to tear up or burn the paintings in order to release them!"

"Yeah, but . . ." Franky looked at the painting of Robin. "What if it doesn't work?"

"I agree with Chopper," said Nami. "We don't have any other options, other than leaving them behind. We need to take the risk."

"Well, let's get right on that," said Sanji, going up to Zoro's painting. He took out his lighter and turned on the flame, holding it up to the canvas. It soon caught fire and burned, turning the painting to ashes. In less than five minutes, it was gone.

"So?" he asked, turning around. "Where—ah!"

Zoro had appeared, kneeling, in the middle of the hallway. He looked around, seeming confused.

"What . . . happened?" he muttered. "I was standing in front of the painting, and then . . ."

"Glad to see you back, Zoro," said Franky. "You got stuck in that painting."

"Did I?" he asked, rising. "How did I get out?"

"I burned the painting," Sanji explained.

". . . should we do the same to her painting, then?" Zoro asked, glancing at Robin's painting.

"No!" Sanji yelled.

"Why not? If it worked for my painting—"

"We can't risk hurting Robin-_chwan_!"

Nami smacked him. "It didn't hurt Zoro, so why would it hurt Robin?"

"Robin-_chwan_ is more delicate than that muscle-head!"

"Okay," said Franky, going up to Sanji. "Here's the plan. Chopper, come over here. You and I will hold down Sanji while Nami and Zoro go burn that painting."

"_What!?_" yelled Sanji. It was too late for him, though—Chopper was sitting on him and holding his legs back, while Franky held his head down.

"Now!" he yelled to the other two. They nodded; Nami stole Sanji's lighter and approached the painting, turning on the flame. She held it below the canvas and it caught fire just like Zoro's painting had. It turned to ashes, leaving Sanji sobbing.

Robin rose from her kneeling position. "What . . . ?"

"ROBIN-_CHWAN_! MY DARLING IS ALIVE!"

Robin looked at the ashes of what had once been her painting. ". . . I see. Thank you."

Franky and Chopper released Sanji, who went over to hug Robin. Robin stepped out of the way and Sanji tripped, falling flat on his face.

"Well, let's get moving," said Nami. "We've got treasure to find!"

"Nami, wait!" said Chopper. He gestured to the other paintings. "Shouldn't . . . shouldn't we free them too?"

"I agree," said Zoro. "Don't you think it's what our captain would do?"

Nami sighed. "Well, all right. Sanji-_kun_, if you will?" she handed him his lighter.

"With pleasure, Nami-_swan_~!"

He immediately set fire to the one entitled 'Luis'. Soon, a man with black hair and glasses appeared. He looked around.

"Where . . . ?" he whispered. "What happened . . . ? My . . . my body . . ."

"You're safe now," said Chopper. "You're—eh!?"

The man's body was dissolving into nothing. It started at the top of his head and travelled down, dissolving everything right down to the tips of his toes. There was a flash of light and he was gone.

". . . what . . .?" said Nami disbelievingly. "What just happened?"

Robin thought. "It seems that this man died a long time ago, but his body was preserved within the painting. By releasing him, he was set free to go to the next life."

They were rather quiet at this.

Sanji burned the rest of the paintings, one by one. And, one by one, the bodies of the people trapped in the paintings disappeared.

"I think we should move on now," said Zoro once the last person had vanished. "We need to get Usopp's memory back as soon as possible, remember?"

The others agreed and went through the door at the end of the hallway. They walked down another long hall to an open doorway, where an inscription was placed next to it.

_A labyrinth of traps awaits you_

_ Beyond this open doorway_

_ Continue if you must_

_ But beware, for none have escaped_

_ If you wish to live_

_ You must rely on wits_

_ Strength is of no use_

_ In this underground labyrinth_

"'Labyrinth'. . . so it's a maze," said Zoro. "Sounds easy enough."

"One thing's for sure," said Nami. "Someone has to be Zoro's partner."

"What!? Why!?"

"Because you get lost on the way to the bathroom!"

"I do not!"

"It happened this morning!"

"I wasn't lost!"

"Chopper, be Zoro's partner!"

"Okay, Nami!"

"Hey!"


	17. Down the Chute! Usopp Accepts the Truth?

The six Strawhats entered the maze through the open doorway. There were two ways to go from there – left or right. The walls appeared to be solid stone. They were about ten feet high and connected to the ceiling, leaving no gaps.

"Can't we just break these things down?" Zoro asked, putting a hand on the wall right in front of them.

"Good idea, Zoro!" Franky exclaimed, lifting an arm, but Robin put a hand on his arm.

"I'm not sure that's wise," she countered. "There seems to be someone else pursuing the turnip, correct? Breaking our way through this place would not only alert him or her to our presence, but it would make it easier for him or her."

"Well . . . I guess you're right," Franky said, reluctantly lowering his arm. Zoro sighed.

"I think I know of a way to find the fastest route through this place," Robin said. "Does anyone have a pen and paper?"

"Yeah," said Nami. She pulled a feather pen and a folded piece of paper out of her pocket and handed them to Robin. The older woman thanked her and took them. She shut her eyes, crossed her arms, and focused.

Unseen by anyone else, several eyes appeared in various places on the labyrinth walls. By putting them in strategic spots, Robin was able to sketch a rough map of the labyrinth within five minutes. When she was finished, she showed it to the others.

"So we're here right now," she said, pointing to a spot near the bottom of the page. "And if we follow this route—" she traced a line through the maze to the next open doorway—"we can make it through this place relatively quickly."

"Nice, Nico Robin!" Franky exclaimed, giving her a thumbs-up with a gigantic hand.

"Now we just have to worry about traps," said Chopper nervously. "I hope there's nothing scary . . ."

They started off, tracing their path on Robin's map.

The first trap came at the second right turn. There was a click at their feet, and they looked down to see that the section of floor they were standing on had depressed slightly, as if they were standing on a large button. A section in the ceiling opened up right above them and what seemed like hundreds of snakes and spiders poured down onto their heads. Nami and Sanji screamed.

"These things . . ." said Robin, holding a brightly colored snake in her hand and examining it. It was strangely limp. "They're toys; made of rubber or some similar material."

Nami and Sanji released each other, having grabbed onto the other in fright. Sanji tried to grab Nami again, but Nami shoved him off.

"What kind of sick joke is that?" She demanded, still shaken.

"A good one," Zoro replied. "We got to see the love-cook at his finest."

"You're one to talk, Mr. I'm Sorry I Was Born!" Sanji growled angrily.

"DROP IT ALREADY! THAT WAS TWO YEARS AGO! YOU WANNA FIGHT!?"

"YEAH! LET'S GO!"

"Would you two mind holding off on your fighting?" Franky asked. "At least wait until we get out of here."

The two settled for glaring at each other.

The second trap came when they were about halfway to the end. Franky, with his large frame, brushed against the wall. Immediately a spout of flame shot from the ground to the ceiling where they were about to step, completely blocking their path.

"Oh, way to go, Franky," Zoro grumbled. "Now we can't go this way."

"Hey, it's not my fault I'm too super for this place!"

"Oh, shut up, you two," Nami muttered. She grabbed her Clima Takt, pieced it together, and put out the fire with some well placed rain and snow clouds. She put it away and stepped over the puddle.

"Just what you'd expect from my darling Nami-_swan_~!" Sanji cooed.

The others ignored him with some difficulty and continued on ahead.

Robin, thankfully, detected the third and final trap. She stopped them at the last turn and waved a hand, sprouted on the wall, through the area. It vanished just in time, for a large guillotine blade dropped down through the ceiling, going straight through the floor. She tested the area again, and nothing happened. They stepped through and turned left to go through the open doorway.

The hallway they entered sloped steeply upward. Thankfully, none of them were too tired out at the end of it to read the words above the bright red button:

_You've reached the end_

_ Of the second part_

_ If you truly wish_

_ To continue your quest_

_ For our precious treasure_

_ Follow these clues:_

_ Find your first answer_

_ Bring the one of the Rock_

_ He will show you the way_

They stared at it. Robin wrote it down, word for word.

"No choice now but to press the button," said Sanji simply. He reached over and pressed it. Nothing happened for about two seconds, causing them to lower their guards slightly. Then—

A large trapdoor opened up underneath their feet. They feel down what seemed like a large metal chute, down and down for about five seconds.

WHUMP. They landed in some kind of small building. Sitting up and blinking, they were surprised to see that they were in the clothing shop they'd entered in. The manager was hurrying towards them.

"Oh dear!" He exclaimed. "Are you all quite all right? What on earth happened? Where's the treasure?"

"We didn't find any treasure," Franky replied, looking up as the hatch in the ceiling closed. "Sorry."

"Ah, I see. That's really too bad, really too bad indeed. Are you all off, then? Unless you'd like to buy some clothing—no? Then _au revoir_~!"

The six Strawhats left, passing a teenage boy entering the shop.

* * *

When they came back, Brook was playing Binks' Sake on his guitar. Luffy was clapping and singing along to the song, slightly off-key. Usopp was looking away and quietly humming along to the tune. All three looked up upon their arrival.

"What happened!?" Luffy exclaimed. "I hope you didn't find anything, 'cause I wanna be there when it happens!"

Zoro sat down. "Clothing stores can be cobbler's shops, a river can't walk, empty frames are surprisingly dangerous, labyrinths have many traps, and a button can send you back to the beginning."

Luffy tilted his head. "What? Well, whatever. You can tell us later. Sanji, make us food! I'm starving!"

"You had lunch, didn't you?" Sanji asked, setting down the bags of food with Franky.

"No. There's no food."

"Why didn't you go out to a restaurant or something!?"

"We didn't want to worry you, Sanji-_san_," Brook replied. "If you had come back while we were gone . . ."

"So leave a note or something!" Sanji yelled. "Idiots . . ."

* * *

Sanji cooked up roast duck for dinner that night. Dinnertime was loud and wild as usual, what with Luffy stealing food from everyone's plates, the others trying to guard their meal, and Zoro and Sanji arguing.

"Hey."

The fighting, stretching, and arguing abruptly stopped. The crew turned to stare at Usopp, who had spoken. He flinched slightly under their stare, but looked at them steadily.

"Why . . ." he said. "Why are you doing all this for me?"

Luffy laughed. "I told you, because we're friends!"

Chopper nodded eagerly. "We're friends, and nothing will change that!"

Usopp looked down at his plate. "It is possible for a civilian or even a proud Marine to be friends with pirates, isn't it? Oh!" He exclaimed suddenly. "I just remembered . . . Strawhat, you're friends with Captain Coby, right?"

"Coby? Yeah, we're friends! Wait, did you say captain!? Wow, that's awesome!"

Usopp nodded. "I met him when I was looking at your bounty posters."

"He's a captain now . . ." Luffy said happily, ignoring what Usopp was saying.

"So what brings about this sudden change in attitude?" Zoro asked Usopp. "Before you were like 'We're not friends, I'm a Marine, you're pirates, you're going to torture me,' etc."

"It's just that . . . I'm starting to think you guys are telling the truth about this. Maybe not that I was part of your crew, but that I was your friend."

"It's about time," Nami snapped. "And we've been telling the truth all along. Now we need to get to figuring out what to do tomorrow!"

"What did the writing say again, Robin-_san_?" Brook asked.

Robin told them what it said.

"'Find your first answer, bring the one of the Rock . . ." Nami muttered. "The 'one of the Rock' probably refers to Luffy. He did open up Desolate Rock, after all."

"Woo-hoo! More adventure!"

"The first answer part most likely refers to the answer we gave to the riddle," Robin said calmly. "There must be a river on this island."

"Good, that's all solved," Zoro said.

They drew straws after dinner, with Nami and Franky drawing the short ones.

* * *

**I just realized that in the part where Luffy faces his greatest fear, I forgot to put Chopper in there. It shall be fixed soon.**


End file.
